Breaking Free, Colors in Hand
by Roses Roses And More Roses
Summary: Long black hair, bright blue eyes. She was the picture version of Steve Earle's Galway Girl. Long black hair, bright gray eyes. An obsession for muggle cameras and bikes. He was every girl's fantasy. They were each other's undoing, and yet, each other's strength. Previously known as Siriusly Irish.
1. Chapter 1

_There once lived a lady_

_Her name was J.K. Rowling_

_She's the one that thought up Quidditch _

_and Diagon Alley and Owling._

_In 2011, along came this girl _

_Nicknamed Rose_

_She really enjoyed_

_JK's prose. _

_She decided to write based on her works_

_And maybe earn some fame._

_But then she remembered, and thought to herself_

"_First I must disclaim"_

_Alright, so as the awful poem suggests, I do not own Harry Potter or the world. I can only claim the plot for Breaking Free, Colors in hand (previously known as Siriusly Irish). _

_But give it a shot. I enjoyed writing this and I hope you'll enjoy reading it. _

_Playlist: _

_ Trouble – P!nk_

_ TNT – AC/DC_

_ Trouble – Coldplay_

_Who'd have imagined?_ I thought wryly to myself. _Sirius Black actually reading a book. _I turned another page and tried hard to focus on the stupid reading work I had to do for stupid Slughorn. I didn't really dislike me. Well, he liked me, so I did well in potions, but the man had some seriously twisted ideas for somebody on the good side. He told me once that he was amazed that Lily, being a muggleborn, was so good a witch. Honestly, I'd always thought that that sense of surprise was the root of Voldemort's little group. Or maybe Voldemort was jealous of some muggleborn who'd been better at Hogwarts than him.

The words 'shrinking potion' floated out at me just as Snape passed by our compartment. James nudged me, and I slammed the book shut. This ought to be fun. We grinned at each other and tried to quietly reassure Peter, who looked a little worried.

"Well if it isn't our _dear _friend, Sirius. We ought to make him feel welcome." James copied the oily tone Snape used with teachers. "Come in, Severus, come in!"

Snivelly looked as though James had just confunded him, but stepped into our compartment anyway. Was he really so dumb as to assume that _James _would be nice to him? Remus sat up a little straighter, ready to break up a fight if it came to it. Rebecca Woods, James' new _girlfriend _clutched his arm as though holding him back. "You'll like this, Becky. Watch." He muttered.

"Had a good summer?" James asked nonchalantly.

Snape shrugged in what he hoped was a blasé attitude. Of course, even a bimbo like Rebecca could figure out that he was tripping over his ragged boots to feel like he was similar to James.

"I know I did. What did _you_ do, Sirius? Watch old Reggie throw dark marks around in his room with Snivellus here?" He chuckled.

His hand curled around his wand. "Way off, Potter." He said, trying to maintain his cool.

"That's the best you can do, Snivelly? 'Way off, Potter'? What, did you forget all those quips you memorized to throw at me and Sirius over the summer?"

"You're sadly mistaken, Potter. I just forgot what I was going to say – Lily and I had great fun over the summer." He taunted, his large nose raising an inch.

"Not anymore, Grease," I drawled from where I was lounging, "That one got old, oh, I'd say in second year. Everyone knows she wants nothing to do with you after the horrible things you said to her. Did you really try to apologize, Snape? You must be dumber than I thought."

I went back to my book, predicting the sequence of events after this. As if on cue, Snape fired a non-verbal Jelly-legs jinx at me. Show off. I was still struggling with the Defense Against the Dark Arts ones. Remus was already in action, deflecting it with his own non-verbal shield. Just as James got a good angle for what could have been a great jinx, Lily Evans showed up. Uh-oh.

"Stop that!" She said shrilly. "Do you really want me to dock points from Gryffindor the first day back?"

Oh yeah. Evans was a Head Girl. Perfect Evans, with the perfect grades, and the perfect behavior, and the perfect poise who just couldn't give James the time of the day. Probably the only girl I'd ever thought was like a sister to me. Funny how much she hated all of us in second year. And then it all changed, but that is a story for some other time.

Snape grinned triumphantly. Evans, however, looked like him like he was slime. "And you," She said, jerking her head in his direction, a disgusted expression painting her face crimson, "Clear off before I set you detention."

Though everyone knew she wouldn't set him detention, it shut old Grease up super fast and wiped off his stupid smirk. He scampered off like the little rat he was, throwing us one last dirty look and Lily a longing glance.

She collapsed into the empty seat next to me. "Thanks, Evans." I nodded in her direction.

"Anytime." She smiled back, and muttered something under her breath which sounded vaguely like _filthy moron._

"Right there with ya, Evans." I muttered back.

"It's your turn, Potter." She said louder, trying to ignore Rebecca digging her nails into James' forearm. It looked like she was about to draw blood. Prongs shook off the blonde and walked out without a word.

"God, Sirius, those Slytherins just get worse by the year." She groaned. I patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about those slime bags. They only get worse cause' we get better." I said. The arrogance of that statement made her laugh.

"Leaves just you and me in here, Evans."

"Yeah. Where's Remus?" She asked.

"Sierra. Who else?" I told her. She nodded in understanding.

After a minute of comfortable silence, I asked her the old favorite, "You wanna see what I got you for your birthday?"

"Oh, don't tease me, Sirius. I know you won't show me until the day of my birthday."

"Well, I was _going _to, but if you don't want to see it, then it's fine."

"Now _that _got old in third year." She elbowed me, grinning. Her bad mood seemed to have left the compartment with James.

Once in the dorm, James began pacing around the common room, his chest now proclaiming him to the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and Head-boy.

"Good one, Prongs." I nodded to him.

"Thanks." He grinned back. "Where's Moony?" His brow furrowed.

"Off with Sierra." I told him. "Y'know, James –" I began, but he cut me off.

"I know what you're going to say, Padfoot. Don't bother. I no longer have a crush on Lily. I'm with – eh, what's her name? – Rebecca, remember?" I smirked. This was an all time low. He always remembered the girl's name. "See, I don't care how smart, or pretty she is. And it certainly doesn't matter that she hates my guts, because I'm _over _her. This is the last time Lily Evans has rejected me. I'm _happy!" _ I burst out laughing. He sounded so cross that that statement just sounded ridiculous. Even he had to smile a bit at the contradiction in his voice.

"The bimbo over Lily? You're really too far gone, Prongs." I told him, sighing in mock misery, "On a lighter note, though, I think I want to go help Peeves scare the first years. You coming?"

"Can't. Got to discuss the team roster and everything with McGonagall. I'll see you in a few, though." He said, tossing me the invisibility cloak.

"See ya." I nodded to him, making my way to the chamber where we'd waited as first years. I slipped into the little crook we'd found in fourth year when we were hiding from Filch. "Peeves!" I whisper-shouted. "Get down here." He was floating a foot above my head.

"You got the water balloons?" He wheezed.

"Of course." He shrugged. I tapped my wand against the skinny poltergeist's head and muttered a disillusionment spell.

"Go!" I encouraged.

As soon as there were shrieks and splashing noises, I went out. It really took the magic out of it when you knew what was going on. I slid up behind a small redhead and said, "Sorry, my friend is the newest ghost here. He can't control himself."

She shrieked in fright, trembling so violently that her wet hair was shaking as well. A few heads turned. She peered some three feet left of me, whispering, "There was a voice there."

"There's nobody there, Andrea." Another identical redhead said to her.

"Sarah…I …he…said…ghost…there!" It was immensely difficult to figure out what came out through her chattering teeth. I figured Peeves must have put ice down her robes.

"Annie, don't be silly, ghosts can't touch things. Besides, we'd see him." She turned to the closest boy, a tall fellow for his age, leaning against the wall.

"You," she said, "Stop scaring my friend."

He shrugged. "Whatever." I'd put money on him going into Slytherin.

Just then, James came through the door, badly disillusioned. I could see him, though _he _looked like a ghost. Watery, transparent and shifting in and out of focus. He went straight to the nook, but I thought I saw the little girl named Andrea shiver in fright.

"Bad form, Prongs. Some kid saw you."

"Ah, well. I didn't have time. McGonagall is on her way."

"Here, you take the cloak, I'll hide!" I said, and handed him the cloak. He was just on time. Unfortunately, I wasn't. McGonagall came through the door. Oops.

"Mr. Black. Why aren't you with the rest of your house? Professor Dumbledore is speaking at the moment."

"Ah, professor. Remus noticed a first year looking sick on the train and wanted to check on her." I nodded towards the redhead, Andrea. "So I said I'd do it for him."

"Commendable – " she began, in a voice that said she didn't believe me, but she had nothing on me. A shrill voice broke the air, though, and blew my cover.

"That's the voice! _He _told me that a ghost was putting water on us!"

Busted. "Ah. Care to change your story now, Mr. Black? And where is your other half, Mr. Potter? I daresay he would have joined in on the fun as well?"

"No, Professor." I stepped on his foot, our sign for _get out of here._

"You are quite certain, Mr. Black?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I thought he was with you." I nodded.

"And I have no doubt that you plotted this together. You will be serving detention alone for…shall we say, the next two months?"

"Professor!" I gasped.

"It can be three, Black."

"But, Quidditch!" I sputtered.

"I have something in mind, Black, and I don't think it will interfere with Quidditch, but let us see how you like it." She began walking out, and I followed her.

"Professor, it's the first day of school. Can't I just have this one chance?"

"No, Black. You've had enough of those. Besides, it's been a long time since I saw you squirm. I believe this will serve the purpose admirably. I shall enjoy this immensely, Black. You're not going to ruin my fun, are you?" She said, half-smiling. "You shall not join your friends at the Great Hall. Eat in my office, and then go straight up to the dormitories. Come to me before breakfast tomorrow, we shall arrange your detention. The password is 'Ominousity'."

"Sounds ominous." I muttered under my breath. I thought I saw her smirk.

"Professor?" I asked tentatively.

"No, Black, I will not cut your detention short." She snapped.

"No, professor. I was only wondering, will I still get treacle tart in your office?"

Yep. She smiled.

_What did you think? _

_Rose._


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Harry Potter!**

**I know there is a mistake, and that Abraxas Malfoy is not Lucius Malfoy's father, but I work with what I have**

"_Or you could say I'm your new best friend."_

It was six the next morning when James kicked me out of bed.

"Huh?" I said groggily, the sun glaring in my face thanks to James having ripped my curtains open with a savage battle cry. Maybe _that _was why I woke up.

"First day of school, and you have detention? Good going, man." He raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up." I said, covering my face with a pillow and aiming a kick in his general direction. I really didn't want to wake up. It was a tradition for us to be late to the first class of the semester.

"Come on, McGonagall says, and I quote, 'If Black is late by even half a second, I shall double his detention.'" James pulled quite a believable McGonagall, actually.

That got me out of my bed really fast. I _so _did not want to spend the first four months of school in detention, bad enough that I was going to spend two.

"I'm hungry and I have a two month long detention." I sighed sadly.

"It won't be so bad, I reckon. And it's the first day of school; the elves will have those Bavarian éclairs. You could go tickle the pear." I could have punched him for his nonchalant attitude. _He _wasn't going to spend two months in detention anyway.

"So you say." I muttered.

"Have fun!" He said brightly.

"Stop that, Prongs." I growled.

"Nah, I like it. It's fun." He grinned impishly. Infuriating, really.

"Then I hope Lily puts you in detention as much as possible."

"Shut up." He threw my own pillow at me. I shot it down with a flick of my wand. He grinned at me and said, "It isn't like you haven't done it before. Come on, I'll even schedule the Quidditch tryouts so that you can come." He said, trying to mollify me. I grumbled all the way to the showers.

I showered quickly, not wanting to be 'even half a second late', and got into my robes. I practically sprinted downstairs, so I was barely paying attention to where I was going. I was certain nobody would be up at that godforsaken hour. As usual, just when I needed to be right, I was wrong. I collided with this giant group of third year girls.

"You're Sirius Black!" One giggled.

"Yep." I said shortly before striding away quickly.

I went straight to the portrait of the silver fruit bowl. I reached up to tickle the pear, but before I could reach even the banana, it shrieked and said, "Please, no! You could just ask, you know." The pear was quivering so badly, it was hilarious.

"Right. I'll keep that in mind next time." I grinned at it while it groaned.

"Next time?" It asked.

"Sorry. My hunger is like a force of nature." I told it. The portrait swung to the side and the door was revealed.

I burst into the kitchen and there were instantly about six elves surrounding me. They barely reached my knees.

"Anything we can get you, sir? Anything at all?" One of them squeaked.

"I'm starving." I told him. Dead helpful, they were. They were absolutely nothing like Kreacher. _He'd_ murder me in my sleep if he thought he could get away with it.

"We have just the thing, sir." About three seconds later, they had brought me a sandwich about an inch and a half high.

"Take this as well, sir." Another one squeaked, pushing six of those amazing éclairs into my pocket.

"Thanks so much!" I grinned at them, looking at my watch. Breakfast began in four minutes. I tore out of the kitchen, praying McGonagall would be in a good mood. I unwrapped the sandwich and ate as I ran. Though I'd had to struggle to fit my mouth around it, I was still rather hungry. I pulled out an éclair from my pocket and was just about to eat it when I collapsed with someone short and slender. All I saw was a swish of black hair before we both went down.

"Ugh!" She exclaimed.

"Sorry, sorry." I got up, dusted off and checked my watch again. Shit. Two more minutes.

"Hey!" She called, still on the ground. "You spoiled my shirt!" She said. She had an enchanting voice. I cringed. _I really was screwed. _

I helped her up, wondering how mad McGonagall was going to be. She fished around in her robes for something, but came up empty. "Did I leave my wand in that room?" She muttered to herself. I secretly wondered what kind of person forgets their own wand somewhere. I checked my watch again. Minute and a half.

"I'd love to stay and chat," I told her because she was still holding my hand, "but I really have to go." I hinted, subtle as a gun.

"Yeah, of course." She said and I let her go. Unable to support her weight, though, she fell down again. It was then that I noticed the bandage around her knee. It was one that I recognized. Whenever my muggle neighbor broke his knee, he would get one exactly like it, and he would need crutches to get around. Which she did not have. Brilliant. What kind of guy _would_ I be if I left her like that? So I risked an extra long detention to help her up. Supporting her weight with one hand, I offered her one of the éclairs. Not because I particularly wanted to share, mind, but because I really wanted to eat one and it would be rude not to give her one.

"Thanks." She said, taking it.

"Where do you need to go?" I asked her.

"I'm fine. I can walk." She snapped.

"Yeah, sure you are." I raised my eyebrow dubiously. I held on to her even more securely.

"Let me go!" She said, jerking away from me. I held her firmly in my grasp. Her bad leg was wobbling scarily.

"Just…tell me. I'll get you around. What's wrong anyway?"

She muttered something indiscernible.

"What?"

"I've got a broken knee. I can't walk."

"Then you need to go to Madam Pomfrey!" I exclaimed. The nurse would be able to fix that in a minute.

"No, I can handle it for a while. I just don't have my wand."

"Where is it?"

"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" She asked, exasperated.

"You need to accept that you need help." I told her resolutely.

She sighed. "Third door on the left in the corridor with the portrait of the leprechauns."

"Right." I told her. It was not difficult to help her, rather drag her, to where she needed to go. I wrapped my arm around her waist securely, and was moving so quickly, that she didn't even have to move her legs. She simply picked up her feet with a dancer's grace and tucked them in tightly as I sprinted to the room she'd said. Her wand was stuck in the pocket of her jeans, which were draped (inside out) over a chair. She grabbed it and bandaged her leg securely.

"Thanks." She said a little hesitantly. "I'll see you around, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess so." I waved a small wave at her before running away at full speed once more. McGonagall's room was not far, and I really wanted to save as much as I could of my life at Hogwarts. She was going to eat me alive.

* * *

><p>"I'm…here…Professor." I said, a stitch in my side.<p>

"Ah, good. Good morning, Mr. Black."

"Morning, Prof." I said, raising my eyebrow at her politeness.

"We need to discuss your, ah, situation." I didn't say anything.

"This is Bianca Hughes." She said pointing to the girl I'd just noticed. First thing, bandage. Second, long black hair framing a very pretty face. Third, startlingly blue eyes.

"Oh." It was _her_. The girl I'd just helped.

"Hi." She said. I hadn't noticed the lilting brogue before. Irish. How charming. _Snap out of it. She's new._ I'd always had a thing for the Irish, though.

"She's new to Hogwarts, and she shall be in your year. The hat has sorted her into Gryffindor." _Excellent! _

"She was sorted with first years?" I asked, incredulous that James had not told me about her.

"Don't be thick, Black." She said, waving away the question, "She was sorted when she arrived at the school during the summer break." I nodded in understanding.

"Have you heard of St. Peters Academy in Ireland? It is the sister school of Hogwarts, which you would know if you had read _Hogwarts: a History_."

"You know I don't read, Professor."

"Yes, I do realize that, Black, and that is why I'm telling you this. Bianca is a transfer student from there."

She was going to continue, but I cut her off. "We have transfer students?"

"Stop interrupting me, Black, or I shall take points from Gryffindor. And yes, in special circumstances, we do take transfer students. Bianca is a brilliant girl, her grades indicate that, and we have excellent recommendations from St. Peters about her. Since she is new to the school, you shall escort her to all of her classes. You are hereby suspended from all further activities unless they coincide with Ms. Hughes'. You shall not try out for Quidditch unless she does. You shall also help her with any assignments, seeing as the Irish curriculum is slightly different from ours. Any time I see her without you, I shall take ten points from Gryffindor and extend your detention by a week. However, Black, this does not grant you permission into the girls' washrooms or the girls' dormitories. You shall escort her to Hogsmeade and stay here if she wishes to stay. Basically, you will be her shadow. And do make sure you don't get into any further detentions, as that would put Ms. Hughes' in detention as well."

My jaw dropped. "Isn't that a bit of a stretch, professor?" I asked, my eyes wide. What I was thinking was, _that's a bloody bitch of a detention. _

"No." She replied simply. "Here is your schedule, Black. Chop chop." She said to me.

"And as for you, dear," she said, twirling her wand at Bianca, "you'll need to go to Madam Pomfrey, but this ought to keep you from stumbling for a while. Would you wait outside for Black, please?"

She simply nodded. "Black, listen to me. This happens to be Professor Dumbledore's idea, not mine. This is as much a responsibility for you as a detention. Bianca is in grave danger. Lord Voldemort is after her, and he has his henchmen everywhere." Well she didn't beat around the bush.

"But…why, professor? He can't get her in here anyway. Hogwarts is the safest place in the world!" I repeated what I'd been told since I was a child.

"She didn't break her knee herself." She said tartly. Her lips had become very thin.

"Was it a Slytherin, professor?" I asked, my eyes narrowing infinitesimally. Obviously. He didn't have Hufflepuff followers. James' father had told us that lots of Slytherins from his time had joined Voldemort.

"We have our suspicions." She said. So that was a yes.

"Why me, professor? Isn't this a bit much for a detention?"

"You've taken the NEWTs for an auror, haven't you? Call it extra credit."

"Then tell me, Prof. Why's he after her?" I didn't mind hearing the name, but I'd grown used to people flinching when they heard anyone say 'Voldemort', so I just said _he_ now.

"Who can tell? Dumbledore has some theories, but Lucius Malfoy's father, Abraxas Malfoy, was a rather infamous name in the paper for attacking the girl. Nobody knows how bad this is, Black, but in all honesty (and don't you dare repeat this to anyone), I have faith in you. Protect her from him, and herself." She smiled a little at the last part. "And stop calling me 'Prof', Black."

I nodded, a little pacified. I was still bewildered. Me? Really?

I walked out, where she was waiting, leaning against the opposite wall.

"So, you're my new bodyguard, huh?" Her eyes narrowed infinitesimally.

"I guess. Or you could say I'm your new best friend."

"We'll see." She said, as though she was actually considering it.

_This was detention?_ I thought as I looked over her. Her long legs were very shapely. All I knew was that I was going to have a ball.

Man, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

* * *

><p>**Rate? Recommend?**<p>

Rose.


	3. Chapter 3

*I would appreciate mistakes being pointed out. Anything amiss in what I'm doing? A little help would be nice.*

'_I can tell we're going to get along.'_

"You're the legendary Sirius Black, I presume." Since she said it with a slight sneer, I highly doubted that my radical pranking skills had landed up in the Daily Prophet.

"And I presume you're not deaf." I said, not sure why I was being snarky.

"No, and it's been most inconvenient. Everywhere I go, I hear of Sirius Black and James Potter. Are there any other students in this school or not?"

That smirk was still there, though the way she spoke confused me. She talked to me as though she'd known me for ages.

"Of course there are, just not any more talented, charming, or handsome…take your pick, most words of endearment would fit." I said with a smile.

"I can tell we're going to get along." She said to me with a wink. I wasn't sure if she was being serious or not.

* * *

><p>Something about the girl set me on edge. And it wasn't just the candidness with which she spoke. Or that there was an air of confidence around her. Or that she had really long legs. Sure, they did tickle a little bit of me, but there was something else, something that I really couldn't put my finger on. How annoying.<p>

She didn't seem to mind having me follow her. Not that I was sold on the idea, but it was the first time my detention was spent with something less revolting than frog spawn. I sure as hell wasn't going to waste the chance. And though I hated to say it, the girl made me curious.

Our first class, thank Merlin, was Transfiguration, a class James and I shared. McGonagall was sitting on the window sill wreathed in the shadows cast by her many books and her spindly instruments. I spotted her, and gave her a slight nod, if just to assure her I was doing my job. My detention. Ugh.

McGonagall jumped out of the shadows before I could take a breath. The transfiguration from cat to woman never failed to claim wide eyed looks, even from our class. Of course, if any of them wanted to see a dog, a stag and a rat, they easily could.

I wanted to tell James about my ridiculous detention. And the intriguing girl. I had no clue why I felt like I'd seen her before. Not in the way perverted teenagers trying to flirt with girls above their station say it, but in a very different sense. Was she famous? I ran the name Bianca Hughes through my mental checklist…nope, nothing that rang a bell.

Since McGonagall was so damned good at catching especially Prongs and I talking, we had taken to passing notes. Excessively feminine, in my humble opinion, but effective nonetheless.

_Lucky break, Padfoot?_His messy scrawl made me squint to read the three simple words.

_Better than frog spawn. _I wrote back in my decidedly better hand.

_What is it? Tending to the sick?_He was smothering a laugh. Madam Pomfrey sighed every time she saw me, because all injuries I received, if not on the Quidditch pitch, resulted in my detention. She had been trying for ages to 'change my evil ways.' But since she always said it with a smirk of her own, I doubted she'd find me as amusing if I did indeed change my evil ways.

_Long story. Tell you later, all right? _

_If she doesn't give us too much homework, we could go out for a while. See if you've kept your Silver Arrow in decent condition._I cursed under my breath for the long note. I had to put the note on the table so I could read it where the light was okay. And I was on the edge of my table, as James was on his. Delighted as he was sitting next to Lily, he knew she would not hesitate a second before showing his notes to McGonagall.

McGonagall was still blathering about Vanishing spells and their advantages. Of course, it was important, but I was sure I could ask Lily to help me with the homework.

Finally figuring out the scrawl, I nodded imperceptibly to him, pointing my wand at the note so it would flit back to James. He was scratching his quill against his textbook, and he never took notes, so it was obvious there was more he wanted to tell me. McGonagall decided it was the right time to call me out.

"Black. Pay attention. You too, Potter." She said sharply.

"I am, Professor." I said defiantly, while James had the sense to keep him mouth shut.

"Yes?" Her catlike eyes glinted dangerously. "Then make that pin cushion there vanish." She pointed to Elizabeth Wynter's desk, her ridiculously long fingernails dangerously close to the aforementioned pincushion. "Don't move a muscle, Miss Wynter." McGonagall told her severely.

I prayed the nails truly were fake, because if they weren't and I made her nails disappear, Madam Pomfrey would never let me hear the end of it. I thanked my lucky stars that Vanishing spells had been in the practical in fifth year and aimed. The pincushion vanished and Elizabeth sighed a breath of relief.

"Five points to Gryffindor." She conceded. Still convinced of my not paying attention, McGonagall bit out. "Four advantages?"

"Erm…" I fidgeted. I had no idea. I decided to bluff my way through it. "A Vanishing spell, uh, is really useful to a wizard, especially in…" I faltered when a sharp quill poked my thigh. Bianca was holding her book open to the right page. I vowed to thank the girl appropriately later and launched into the advantages. Unconvinced, McGonagall returned to the lesson.

_Nice save_. James mouthed at me.

I nodded and turned to the lesson. Unfortunately, this was just revision. Like I said, it was there during the OWL practicals. Quickly bored, I decided it was a good time to try to find out more about my new 'best friend.'

"Thanks." I muttered.

"Always." She told me.

"Why'd you do it, though?" I asked her, trying hard to keep my lips still.

"Didn't want to spend any time in detention. You'll probably get us into a bunch anyway, so I just want to save myself some trouble." She had an enchanting voice. _She's irritated, you fool. Quit drooling over her voice. _

"Yeah? How would you know? You've known me, what, for ten minutes?"

"I'm not bloody mute, you know. I do talk to people. I've heard what people say about you. Especially the girls."

"Yeah? What _do _they say?" I asked, irritated. Dumb girls who couldn't keep their mouths shut. I heartily wished there were more Lily Evans' at Hogwarts.

"Later. We've got _so _much time." She rolled her eyes as though it was a painful prospect.

"If you have such a problem with me, why don't you just take it up with Dumbledore? I'm sure he would get you a different lap dog. I see volunteers." I snapped. Indeed, Ryan Draker and Nicholas Carter from Hufflepuff were looking extremely pleased at our heated argument.

"_You're _not the one forced to spend heaven only knows how long with a womanizer." She spat out the word womanizer like it was slang. Well, this was annoying. Earlier she spoke to me like I was her old friend and now she spoke to me like some idiot who only thought with his little brain.

"If Ryan and Nick there are any indicators, then our thoughts are similar."

"Have you seen me trying to plant a kiss on either of them?" She retorted.

I had no idea what had her upset. Usually, it was only ex-girlfriends who talked to me like that. Well, the next two months were going to be fun. I was supposed to dog around a girl who hated me for no apparent reason, because I was damned sure that Malfoy would try nothing when we were inside the castle walls.

_I'll be damned_, James mouthed at me. _Fiery, isn't she?_

I frowned. "I'll see you in the common room; we have a free period next." I muttered.

"Yep." He said. McGonagall was looking at us again. Very disapprovingly.

* * *

><p>The lesson ended and I cast Lily a pleading look.<p>

"Fine, Sirius. I'll help you. Do you even know what the homework is?"

At my blank look, she gave me a resigned sigh. "I'll help you, but you're going to have to do the reading part yourself. I'm not paraphrasing for you."

"You're the best, Evans."

"I know." She told me. "You have a free period next, yeah?"

"So?"

She looked at Bianca pointedly as she fought the gaggle of people flooding out like a fish trying to swim upstream. "Explain. You always come in with James. Why the change?"

"Woah, Evans. First name basis? I think you're softening up to him."

"Shut up, Black. Or I won't help you. And don't change the subject, it's rude."

"Fine, I'll tell you later."

I waited outside the classroom a good ten minutes before Bianca came out. I could hear the raised tones of an argument, and the muted worry. Nobody argued with McGonagall. Ever. The girl must be something to get away with it.

"Black. Get in here for a second, will you?"

"Prof?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Keep this arrangement to yourself, will you? Don't want people on their guard, do we?"

"Ah, no." I said, thoroughly disbelieving of the story behind a need to protect her. "What if I know they won't tell anyone, though?" James and Lily would both kick me if I told them that I was _not _going to explain my detention to them.

"Potter, Lupin, Evans?" She listed out in a bored tone.

"Yes, Ma'am." I said, trying to be respectful. Bianca must have seen through it, because she was shaking with silent laughter.

"Only them. I don't need Pettigrew bothering me. I don't trust him quite the way you do."

"Yes, Ma'am." I repeated. Peter wasn't that curious anyway.

* * *

><p>"Spill, Sirius." Lily was the first to get at me.<p>

"Wish you were this eager other places, Lily-of-the-valley." He said, girlfriend forgotten. They flirted shamelessly, and it was rather entertaining when they didn't make you want to knock some sense into both of them.

"With you? In your dreams." She shot back.

"In my dreams, actually you –" He never got to finish because she stuffed a chocolate frog in his mouth. Rebecca glared at them murderously, but she couldn't do much more anyway.

"Chew on that a while. Be quiet. And you," She looked at me. "Go on."

I told them the short version quietly. Bianca had thankfully me a little time by going up to the girls' dormitory. She hadn't even bothered with an excuse.

"Wow." Was all James had to say at the end. "Quite a break you've caught."

"Tell me about it." I said.

"Well, I wish you all the best with her, but I must discuss Quidditch with McGonagall. Tryouts are on Thursday, by the way. At six. See if you're allowed to come."

"I could punch you for that, James." I told him.

"But you won't."

"Doesn't mean I won't hex you while you're asleep."

"And risk the position on the team?"

"Yep. Now, if you're finished insulting me, I'd like a chat with _my friend._" He bristled when Lily came over to sit on my arm rest.

"You really need to cut your hair. It's unruly, to say it politely." She said, tugging at some of it.

"God, woman, are you out of your mind? What do you think you're doing, pulling my hair like that?" I said, running my hand through it. The girl pulled _hard!_

"You need to cut it." She repeated.

"Could have just told me that." I grumbled.

"Enough." She grumbled. "Tell me now, what is she like?" Lily asked me.

"I dunno. I only found her name out an hour and ten minutes ago."

"Well I suppose two months is good time to get to know her. Pretty, isn't she?" Lily grinned devilishly. When I said nothing, she continued , "Everyone knows that you have a penchant for the Irish."

"She's not something I'm trying to buy from a bloody market, Lily. You know I'd treat any girl better than that." I said, praying she had forgotten about that daft bimbo I'd snogged a few times in fifth year.

"Hmm. Can't deny that you _have _proven that over these last couple of years. Still," she mused, "You're not terribly patient. One girl, two months…where's that new girl of yours? I bet she'll be jealous."

"None at the moment." I told her.

"Then there is none likely for the next two months." She sucked in a mock-shocked gasp.

"You think I'd let the girl hold me away from someone I like?" I raised my brow at her.

"No. Simply that your new _detention_," She snickered at the word, "won't leave you much time for your…playful ways."

"Do you imply that I'm not capable of sticking to one girl, Lily?" I asked slightly menacingly. But she _did _know that I'd do nothing to her.

"Absolutely." She laughed.

"Wanna bet?" I asked teasingly.

"When have you known me to not take you up on something like that?"

"I'll assume that's a 'yes'. Do you want to set the terms or shall I?"

"Oh, you go ahead."

_Big mistake. _"You've got to attend every one of our gatherings in the room of requirement."

"The ones involving cards, fire whiskey, and James' latest girlfriend?" she clarified.

"The same."

"And if _I_ win?" She accepted my bet!

"Take a rain check on that." I said liberally. "You've got to attend them…I'll let you know when. For the duration of my detention. If I lose, you need never come again, plus your winning, of course."

"We have a deal." We shook on it.

***Read, rate, comment, and recommend?***

**Rose.**


	4. Chapter 4

***I'm so very sorry about the lateness but my internet was acting gay. I've got the next chapter ready, and will put it up depending on reactions. You know how I know your reactions? Reviews! So please review.***

'_I felt like I'd found a tiny piece of the Bianca Hughes puzzle.'_

It was a tradition in the making. In the free period after McGonagall's class, Bianca would let me have the time with my friends. She would save library visits till later. All in all, she was easy to be around. When she wasn't quipping at me about my 'womanizer' reputation, she would crack the funniest of jokes. Even Lily liked her. Well that was mostly because she'd seen her be nice to a first year. The girl took being a prefect very, very seriously.

She came down just a few minutes before the bell. "We have Charms next?" she asked me in a charmingly broguish lilt. We were only a week into the semester, so her slight lingering confusion about the schedule was understandable.

"Double charms, actually." I informed her.

Glancing down at the bulging bag she carried, I stopped in my tracks. "There's no way we're taking those many classes." I told her.

"We're not. I'm just trying to catch up with the syllabus here." She clarified.

"Well your book bag doesn't seem very stable." We were outside now, the fat lady singing behind us.

As if to prove me right, there was a sharp ripping noise, and all her books spilled onto the floor. I bent down to help her gather them. As I handed her three fat, out of course books, an old picture slipped out into my hand. It was of a tall, well-built guy who was smiling out at something beyond the camera, hand in his short hair. Frozen in the moment. A muggle picture, I realized. He looked similar to Bianca. There was a pressed orchid sticking up from the back of the picture.

I handed it back to Bianca who snatched it back quickly, her face burning.

"_Reparo_." I muttered to fix her book bag. I enchanted it further to strengthen it and then once more, to increase it's holding capacity. Old Flitwick should have been proud of me.

"Thanks." She said.

"Who is it?" I asked her, curiosity prodding me to ask her, though it was apparent she did not want to talk at the time.

"My brother, Brad." She said, and there was love in every syllable, shining through her reluctance.

"But this is a muggle picture?" I said, kind of like a question.

"Yes. He serves in the Navy. He's actually Captain Bradley Hughes. This was right after he bagged captain." She told me. It didn't answer my question, but at least that explained the uniform.

"In the _Royal_ Navy? Why?" I asked. Wizards didn't usually venture out into the armed forces.

"He chose not to be…he chose to give up magic." She said, the words tumbling out faster than I could catch them.

"He chose to –" I choked on my words, and then started again. "Why?" I asked simply, my brow furrowing. It was bizarre.

"I'll tell you sometime." She said in a harsher voice than I was used to. "It's a long story."

"I'll hold you to that. Meanwhile, we have a class to attend. Flitwick's decent, really. If you can see him." I said, unsubtly changing the subject.

"Why? He invisible or something?" A smile graced her face again, her sadness buried deep in an instant.

"No, just short." I snickered.

"Are you knocking short people?" Her face screwed up in mock rage.

"Yep." I told her, laughing now.

"I'm short." She bit out. And she was. Tiny. No taller than five three.

"And that'll just make my two months entertaining. You don't know how many short jokes you pick up when you're my height."

"So help me, Sirius. If you get on my nerves too much, I'll jinx you." She waved her wand threateningly at me.

"And risk detention? I don't think so." This conversation was taking on the same direction as my recent one with James. Again with talking to me like she knew me since Eve.

She smirked, and we were on our way. I felt like I'd found a tiny piece of the Bianca Hughes puzzle. Just a small one though. There were still loads to go.

* * *

><p>I found myself getting extra homework <em>yet again <em>for Flitwick because he, too, didn't believe me when I said I was paying attention in class.

"Two full parchments on the founder of the Aguamenti charm." A smug smile played on his face.

"Two!"

"And a half. On Thursday." He said stubbornly. I resolved to increase my onslaught of short jokes on him. He couldn't give me detention over Christmas break.

_Oh hell. _Lily wasn't there in this class, and she'd given me hell about McGonagall's homework. Even threatened me…I wasn't even sure if she'd help me with this. I only had a day for it, too. _Well damn_, I was a goner.

* * *

><p>"Do you mind if we head up to the library really quick? I need a couple of books." Bianca asked me softly before lunch. "I really need them before History of Magic."<p>

"Why? Binns never asks questions." We were already headed in direction of the library.

"It's good to know. Besides, British history is fascinating. You don't know how boring year after year of leprechaun history gets. Your Goblin revolutions are far better. Fascinating!" She repeated.

I wore a stunned look. Slowly, emphasizing each word, I said, "I would _never _have imagined you a nerd, Bianca."

"I'm not a nerd!" She said shrilly. "I—I've failed loads of tests."

"How many?" I taunted. "Two?" I was laughing now.

"Oh, you're such a dog." She huffed. I froze when a sudden expression of knowledge landed on her.

"You _are!" _She exclaimed. "You laugh like you're barking, and your hair is like the fur of a dog!" She said, pleased with her revelation. "Careful with the short jokes, Sirius, I'll come back with doggie cracks."

_If you only knew _I thought as she laughed. "I'm rather like a wolf, I like to think." I tried to get her off topic.

"Not at all, you're far too tame for that." She mused over her new joke, much like a little girl. It was adorable. _Shut up. _I told myself. I was entranced by a new girl, really? Me, Sirius Black. No matter how damn vain I sounded, I was _Sirius freakin' Black. _I had witches on the tips of my fingers. I refused to show the slightest interest in her – unless of course, she started it. The thought of her casting me furtive looks from behind her books was pleasing.

"Don't forget, Bianca, that I have two on you now. I've got short jokes, I've got nerd jokes…you never know what I'll unleash on you."

"I'll show you a nerd." She muttered, launching herself onto me. Taken entirely by surprise, I missed a bookshelf by very little. She had me pinned down, a knee on either side of my ribs. "Care to rethink that?" She asked.

It wasn't hard getting her off me; she was amazingly light. I pinned her down by the shoulders even as she kicked her feet in an awful tantrum. "Not that I don't enjoy having you _straddling _me," I said, smirking and drawing out 'straddling', "but I think I'll hang on to the nerd thing for a while."

"You need something?" The vulture like librarian snapped, appearing suddenly, looking pointedly at Bianca kicking up hell under me. I let her up quickly.

"Hey, Madam Pince!" I said cheerfully as we both straightened up. "I need a couple of books, and so does Bianca here. We were just looking for you."

She said something along the lines of 'sure you were', and then looked away.

"That was rude of her." Bianca giggled. "She didn't even offer to help us find books!" She dissolved into a fit of hysterics again.

"Hush." I impersonated Pince. "Or the books will get you!" I hurried along to the next shelf anyway, searching for material for my punishment essay. Two and a half rolls of parchment, really. I was in the completely wrong row, of course. Ended up finding material for Bianca, instead of what _I _needed.

"Hey, you!" I called. "Isn't this what you need?" I brandished a book at her.

"Yep." She said. "Found yours yet? I'm starving."

"I didn't, actually. Seen anything for me?" I stared at the seemingly never ending shelf and ran my hand through my hair. _This is hopeless! _

"Nothing. How about we come back up later? I'm going to pass out if I don't eat soon."

"But Flitwick will have my ass!" I complained.

"Come on," She said in an imitation of someone calling their dog; she even whistled, "or else McGonagall will get you!"

I growled, but followed her. After all, it would be a bloody four month detention if I wasn't seen with her at all times. "You _so _owe me." I muttered about a thousand times on the way down.

* * *

><p>"Wait for me."I told her, ducking into one of the washrooms. When I came back out, she had invited trouble. Lucius Malfoy was jeering at her. Fabulous.<p>

"Where's your guard dog?" He asked her. His cronies laughed sluggishly behind him.

"Oh he's so much more of a man than you are, Malfoy. Get away from me before I hex you." She threatened. _Well. _That was such an ego booster.

"You?" He snorted. "Your knee feeling any better?" He asked, his ugly face contorting into what might have been a sympathetic expression.

There seemed to be a sharp retort at the edge Bianca's tongue which I would have loved to hear, but my stomach was growling, and I didn't need her getting into fights with Malfoy. It would not only get her into heaps of trouble, but also really anger McGonagall. I did _not _want to be on her wrong end at the time.

"Enough, Malfoy." I said coldly.

"Hello, cousin." He said in an equally cold voice.

"You're no family of mine." The words flung themselves at him before I could stop myself. I didn't want to get angry at him, but it was damn hard.

"Don't get me wrong, Black. I don't _want _to be associated with you, filthy blood traitor as you are. It was simply a slip of tongue. Your brother, however, seems to have no problem with me calling him that. Seems to wait for it, in fact."

"He's no family of mine, either." I snapped. "And I don't care what you have shoved up your ass right now, Malfoy, but I'm hungry, so get out of my way before I eat _you_." My stomach growled quietly. It would have been funny if it weren't so irritating. "On second thought, though, I don't think all that slime would go down my throat anyway."

He looked like he had swallowed something foul and that was our cue to walk away.

* * *

><p>"What held you?" James was indignant when we finally got to the Great Hall. The girlfriend was not in her usual place next to James, but was instead crying copiously a few seats away. I noticed Lily was not in her usual place opposite me either. She was sitting a few seats down, trying – and failing – not to look smug.<p>

"Malfoy." That always explained being late in our cases, "Well anyways, Prongs, why the hell won't you follow Moony's advice?"

"What advice?" He asked lazily.

I jerked my thumb towards Rebecca. "Why can't you just leave them alone and you know…go after Lily seriously?"

"I've been asking him the same thing since third period." Remus put in. "He won't budge."

"Fine, _fine_." He grumbled. "When she won't give me a chance, I'm not going to bother. And Rebecca was getting clingy. It's irritating." He said defensively.

"Even _I_ treat them better, Prongs." I chided.

"Yeah, well. I'll try." He said morosely.

"Don't have to. There's Lily."

"She. Won't. Give. Me. A chance! How hard is that to get through your head?"

"You flirt all the time!" I said exasperatedly. Bianca was watching this exchange in amusement beside me.

"Yeah, so?"

I leaned in so only he and Remus could hear. "What if I told you that I invited her to our game nights? For the next two months. Or however long my detention is."

Remus caught on immediately, but James had a little trouble processing it. "I repeat: so?"

"So, you fool, you'll get chances almost every week, won't you. Just take the opportunity. You have a nasty reputation with the girls here anyway."

It dawned on him how good this could be. "Thanks, mate." He said.

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>I was sitting with my head in my hands and an empty roll of parchment that evening. Bianca was reading quickly next to me; her work was going much faster than mine. I'd only written my name and the title yet.<p>

"Hey, Sirius!" Dawn Mason, Chaser extraordinaire, called from across the common room. "_Captain Potter _says we have practice Saturday morning. Long, hard one, so you'd better have a good pair of gloves. He intends to get in lots of Quaffle work." I lightened up a little, until she said, "Defensive, Black. Your work." Sometimes I hated being the Keeper. I nodded to her. She was one of those no-nonsense people that neither James nor I'd gotten to, so she was nice to both of us.

I turned to Bianca with a resigned look. I hated having to ask. I guess she knew that.

"So I guess I get to see you fly Saturday, huh?" She said.

"You already saw me fly at tryouts." I replied, not missing a beat, though I let gratitude color my answer. At least she had a little concern for my ego.

"That was flying?" She snorted indelicately. "Looked like you were trying to chase your tail." She said, giggling.

"Point to you." I conceded with good grace. We'd begun a game, of sorts. We'd keep quipping at each other until one of us was stumped. That was a point. I was leading by three.

"Just for forfeiting, I'll help you with your essay." She said gleefully.

"There is a God!" I said dramatically.

My essay was finished within half an hour.

**Do you want to see game night in the next chapter? Or is there something else in particular I haven't written enough on. You know I live for reviews. Virtual firebolts for all those who review. :D **

*The usual. Rate, recommend, comment?*

Rose.


	5. Chapter 5

*Okay, I don't know James' mother's name, so I'm gonna call her Elizabeth. If someone knows her name according to the series, I'd only be too happy to correct it. **Also, this one is exactly 2000 words, all included. I like. You?***

'_That was the first hint that I should have taken. We were becoming friends.'_

I shrugged into my Quidditch robes early Saturday morning. When James was ready, we slung our identical Silver Arrows on our shoulders and headed out. As usual, the girls were waiting for us. Chasers Dawn Mason and Catherine Wilmington and our famous beater twins (it seemed like we always had twins for beaters) Shane and Sophia Summers. Shane, the only guy there, was at ease amongst the girls, laughing and chatting with them.

Bianca was curled up in one of the big chairs by the fire, seeming sleepy.

"All right." James called out. Almost talking to himself, he began to count. "Me, Sirius, Shane, Sophia, Catherine, Dawn…where's Bill?" Bill Verdi, Chaser extraordinaire, and the youngest team member, was missing.

"I'll go get him." Shane said quietly. He went to the fifth year's bunks and practically threw him out of his bed. The funny thing was, Bill was already dressed in Quidditch robes and his Cleansweep was on his bed next to him. We all remembered how it was in _our _fifth year, so we didn't feel too bad about him passing out the way he did. Merlin knew James and I were much worse.

"Huh?" He jumped out of bed, looking kind of like a monkey with his hair ruffled the way it was.

"Practice, Sleeping Beauty." Shane told him, jabbing him in the ribs with his wand.

"Oh yeah." He said, still sleepy. He shoved his glasses on to his face and scrambled down. "Do you think we can grab breakfast really quick first?" He asked hopefully.

"Here." Dawn chucked a granola bar at him. "God knows that's more than we got."

I really wanted to tease her about it, but I decided to spare her. Knowing James, he was thinking along the same lines. He ushered everyone out of the common room, and I followed thoughtlessly.

We were already at the grounds when McGonagall met us. As head of house, she would come to the first practice – another tradition.

"Last year's victories were spectacular, but we still won the Quidditch Cup by a narrow margin. Blow the Slytherins to the very bottom, would you, Potter? Professor Slughorn has been crowing about unfairness since last year."

"Yes, ma'am." He said, grinning at her. The one thing they agreed on was Quidditch.

"And Black, this means an extra week for you." She looked in my direction disapprovingly, but I would swear I saw a glint of laughter behind her glasses.

_Hell. _"But Professor," I said in a low voice, "she's asleep. No use in waking her up and dragging her here on a Saturday morning!" I protested.

"I made myself _very_ clear, Black. Don't follow the rules, and I extend your detention." Man, she wasn't kidding that first day when she said she wanted to see me squirm. Great.

* * *

><p>I stormed back into the common room after practice. I was stupid enough to try to budge McGonagall one more time. Didn't work. And now she was laughing at me.<p>

Everyone had already gone down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The cheery blue sky was horribly happy compared to my black mood.

"Are you _very _mad at me?" Bianca asked in a small voice when I slumped into my seat a couple of minutes later. I was glowering at McGonagall, who still seemed to be in very high spirits. I didn't know why, but I thought it was to do with me. Of course, it could have been because our practice went _really _well, but I still thought that it was because of me.

"Huh?" I turned toward her. "Why would I be mad at you?" I asked, perplexed. Yeah, I was a little slow that morning.

"I fell asleep." She said sheepishly. "I can imagine what McGonagall must have done for you to look at the teacher's table so murderously."

"Naw, don't worry about it." I shrugged it off. It wasn't that I was just being nice; I honestly wasn't mad at her. That was the first hint that I should have taken. We were becoming friends.

* * *

><p>Lily was MIA that afternoon. In her usual place sat Remus.<p>

"Fill me in, Padfoot. There's so much I've missed out on lately. First off, you have a…" He at least _tried_ to put it politely, "a charge?"

I repeated my story to him, and Remus was shaking his head at the end. "Puts a bit of a damper on our monthly 'walks', doesn't it?"

"Oh come on, Remus. I'd never ditch you like that. You know that."

"No, no. Don't misunderstand me, Padfoot. I wasn't blaming you. I'm just saying it'll be difficult for you, won't it?"

"We'll work around it." I said, and we fell into a companionable silence while I copied his Ancient Runes homework.

"You know I've made a ton of mistakes, right?" He asked me, correcting my misspelled words with his wand.

"Don't feel like applying my mind at all." I said listlessly.

"This is easy, Sirius. Look at it. It's last year's stuff."

I took a glance at what he was showing me. "Schaeffer must be getting homesick." I said gleefully.

Our Ancient Runes professor was a relatively young American, Alexa Schaeffer, only gave us easy homework when she was about to take a break. Finishing the work was actually easier than copying it.

When I was finished, James plopped into the seat next to me. "What do you say to meeting up in the room of requirement at around eight tomorrow?" He said abruptly.

"Will you bring firewhiskey?" I asked.

He looked at me as though I'd asked him if the sun set in the west. "Then I'm in." We both looked at Remus. "I'm in, too."

"Great." I said, lapsing into a short silence. There was a slight complication for me to sort out. What was I to do about Bianca? I didn't know whether or not I could trust her to stay quiet. I really couldn't afford more detention.

* * *

><p>It was my day off, it seemed, and Bianca didn't seem to want to interrupt it, so she kept mostly to herself. When she needed to go to the Owlery, she seemed almost reluctant to ask me to go with her.<p>

"You don't have to be so afraid to ask, you know." I told her casually. "I don't mind coming with you."

I expected a snappy retort. "Thanks." She said faintly instead.

"Always." I repeated to her what she had told me.

"My brother wrote me." She told me suddenly, as though she was bursting with the news. "He's going to be in the vicinity!" The excitement was coming off her in giant waves now.

"Really? That's great." I told her sincerely. When you spend two weeks with Bianca, it's hard not to know a lot about her brother, and he seemed like a great guy. She missed him a lot, and to her, the best part of coming to England was being able to meet her brother occasionally.

"When's our first Hogsmeade trip?" She asked me, referring to a _very _long letter. The handwriting wasn't even that big.

"October 9th. Why?" I asked.

"Brad is going to see if he can come!" She said.

"That's nice."

"Mmm-hmm." She said, humming to herself as she called to one of the snowy white school owls.

Suddenly, a set of talons landed on my shoulder. I realized it was my tawny owl, and she had a heavy package tied to her talon. She hopped down on to the table so I could untie it.

"Hello, Vee." It was short for something Russian, and I thought Vee suited her better. She nipped my finger affectionately.

"Letter from home?" Bianca asked me, humming a bit.

"No. My folks don't write me." I said shortly. Vee decided that I was taking too long, so she pecked my wrist.

"Ouch, stop it!" I told her. "I'm removing it!" When I finally got it undone, I fed her one of the toffees from my pocket and she hopped up to one of the perches and looked at me expectantly.

On the package was the neat, curvy calligraphy of Mrs. Elizabeth Potter.

I shrunk it to put inside my pocket, and pulled out the letter.

_Dear Sirius, _

_How are you? I was writing James this morning and since his last letter was _

_absolutely devoid of any details about his sixth year whatsoever, and because you_

_have not yet written me a letter, I decided it was time you heard from me, too. _

_I hope you're not in _too _much trouble, Sirius. James' father says he's proud of you if you are. _

_You had better send me a list of the things you're going to want to buy over Christmas, _

_because we were planning to go for a vacation over the winter. I'll stock up on it early. Now, this leaves_

_you boys with two options. You can either have the house to yourselves or you can come_

_skiing with us. You can let us know later, decide amongst yourselves. _

_Now, Lily Evans? The pretty girl we heard so much over the summer about? _

_What about her? Heaven knows he won't tell me a thing about her. You're his friend, but you're_

_my friend too. Even if you won't tell me about her in particular, at least_

_tell me if she'll be coming over for Christmas break? _

_There's chocolate fudge and Bavarian pies enclosed. I know they're nothing like _

_the Hogwarts food, but I thought you should have some tuck from home. _

_With love, _

_From, _

_Elizabeth._

I pulled out a bit of spare parchment from my pocket and scribbled on it, _Thanks for the food. Write you properly later. I'll tell James to write, too. Not in trouble. Sirius. _

I tied the hastily scrawled letter to Vee's talon again, giving her another toffee. "I promise I won't make you go on too many long trips this year." I told her softly.

Vee flew out the window with the school owl that Bianca was using.

"Shall we go?" She asked.

I nodded and we were on our way. "So who is it from?" She was prodding me, just like I had been prodding her the other day.

"James' mother." I said resignedly.

"Why does your mother not write to you?" She asked softly.

I grinned at her, showing her it was okay. "I got disowned." I said cheerfully. "My family's big on being pure blooded and all that crap, and _I _am a blood traitor." I said proudly.

"You have a brother here, though, right?" She asked tentatively.

"Yeah. Regulus. Hate him too. And all my asshole cousins like Malfoy."

There was a short silence, which she broke disbelievingly, pityingly. "Don't you feel bad about it? They _are _family, after all."

"No, I'm pretty happy with the way I am. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are really nice."

She looked at me incredulously, and suddenly, I found myself spilling the truth only James knew. "Yeah, it hurts. It hurts because I remember a time when my brother and I were the best of friends, and my mother used to love me. It does hurt, but it's only a memory. I'm almost okay." I told her, my voice rough.

She didn't have the condescending look I expected, but a look of understanding. That was when I realized that I _did _trust her. In the course of two weeks, we had become friends. The thought made me smile.

My mind was made up. "Would you like to come to our game night tomorrow?" I asked her suddenly.

"Yeah, I'd like that." She said. Success!

***Suggest, comment, recommend?* **

**Rose. **


	6. Chapter 6

*Here we go!

The prefect's bathroom _was _really nice; I had to give that to James. He'd given me the password and told me that I was free to use it whenever. The best part about having your best friends being Quidditch captain and Head-Boy, and prefect, too. I ran a hand through my wet hair, and took one last longing look at the still popping bubbles, but the boys would never forgive me if I was late.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." I whispered, tapping the Marauder's map.

Ink-McGonagall was sitting in her office, and Ink-Bianca was in the common room, so I didn't think that I'd get in trouble. The curious thing was that she, Lily, Remus and James were having a conversation. I knew she was an interesting person, but she usually kept to herself. Well, it would be easier for her to sit through our game night if she was comfortable with our little group.

"Mischief managed." I tapped the map again, stepping out of the bathroom cautiously. And immediately bumped into Amos Diggory, Hufflepuff prefect. I wasn't sure if I'd ever been mean to him, so I nodded to him politely, praying he wouldn't blabber to someone about seeing me. He nodded back, but there was a strange expression on his face.

I walked away from him…five feet, seven feet, "Black?" _Well, damn. _

I turned and waited. "You know that new girl, Bianca, don't you?" He asked, blushing tomato red.

"Yeah, so?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, there's a Hogsmeade trip coming up, and since you're the only one I've ever seen her with…well…" I caught onto his train of thought. I hated the train.

"You share three classes with her, don't you? Ask her yourself." I snapped.

"You don't mind?" He asked hopefully.

_Why the hell would I mind? _I thought. I shrugged at him.

"Thanks, man." He told me.

"Yeah." And then I thought, _why the hell is it that I _do _mind?_

* * *

><p>"Chocolate?" James asked when I sat down in the one empty seat by the fire.<p>

"Thanks." I took the piece he was offering. "Your mom send you that?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I got a box too. She wants you to write her."

"I do write her!" He protested.

"Well, write oftener. And while we are on the subject – since your parents _are _going for a vacation this Christmas break…"

"Yeah, she wrote about that too. You want to go skiing?" He asked doubtfully.

"Not really. You?" I asked.

"Nah. We get the house to ourselves for, what? A month?"

"Yep."

"'Cept that we're going to have to clean up after ourselves."

"What happened to Rhea?" I spoke in reference to their house elf.

"She'll be going with my parents, won't she?"

"Oh, yeah."

"We might as well stay back, in that case." He grumbled.

"Ah, we'll cross that bridge when we reach it." I waved it off.

James and I glanced at our watches simultaneously. "Seven fifty, girls. You'd better go first, we'll follow."

Lily and Bianca got up, and went out the door chatting as though they were the best of friends. They were to meet Moony's Ravenclaw girlfriend, Sienna Velasquez, outside. For all of Moony's quite, studious nature, he wasn't satisfied with British girls. He had to get a Spanish spitfire.

It was a little strange, and rather heartening to see the trio getting along so well. I'd thought I'd ruined Bianca's chances of having friends here. Of course, I'd been rather pig headed to think someone like _her _would ever escape Lily's notice.

Bianca was already teasing her about James. I joined in occasionally, ribbing her about how even the new girl could see _it_ between the two of them.

"Nice one you got, Padfoot." Remus told me.

"Yeah, I know." I said, watching their retreating figures. "Wait, what?" I scowled at him, surprised.

"Pretty chummy with her, aren't you? I 'spect you're doing her, too?" He asked, James cocking an ear to the conversation interestedly.

I motioned towards myself conspiratorially, pretending to give them details. Huh. Too bad. They leaned in excitedly. "I'm _not _doing her, okay?" I said sharply. "Trust me, mate. Would I lie to you about it?"

"Not about an Irish one like that." James conceded, Remus nodding behind him.

I could have been irritated, but we set off towards the Room of Requirement just then.

* * *

><p>"Knock, knock, Lily-of-the-valley." James said, grinning like an idiot as we entered the low-ceilinged, softly lit room with six cushions set around a low table.<p>

"My name is Lily, Potter. Just Lily."

His eyes widened.

"What?" She snapped.

"You just said your name was _LilyPotter._" He said in one quick breath so as to emphasize the two words.

"No, I said 'My name is Lily, Potter."

"You said it again!" He said, laughing. "Marry me, Lily Potter?"

"Lily _Evans. _And no." She said shortly.

"You'll come around," he chortled.

When they were done flirting shamelessly, I muttered to Bianca, "I hate letting Lily decide what this place becomes; she makes sure it's so low I hit my head when I get up."

"I _heard _that!" Lily sang.

"I know. It was for your benefit." And we laughed.

* * *

><p>We started with the nervous game. There was a bit of a row about what the object of thought should be before we began.<p>

"I think it should be Zonko's stuff." James declared.

"Neither Bianca, Sienna, nor I _know _Zonko's stuff!" Lily shot back. "It should be something muggle. Like football players."

"_We _don't bloody know football." Remus said uncharacteristically.

"So?"

"If we can use football players, we can use Zonko's stuff."

"No." I said, finally breaking in. "Let's meet in the middle. It could be…people. From Hogwarts. Nobody below our year." I said with finality.

They all nodded. Bianca looked at me with wonder. "Wow. You actually have a brain!" The girls giggled, while James and Remus roared with laughter.

"Just you wait, Hughes. I'll get you back for that."

"I'll be waiting." She said with a wink. _What the hell did that mean? _

"Me first!" said James. Obviously. "I pick…"He pretended to look around the little group. "Lily!"

We all rolled our eyes. As if it would be anyone else.

Lily kicked her shoes off and looked at him as if to say _get it over with._

"Okay, I've thought of a person." He stated.

He then picked up her ankle as though it was made of glass. Very slowly, he peeled her sock off. It may have been the light, but I thought I saw Lily squirm.

"Filch." She said.

"Drink up!" James exclaimed with glee. I poured her a shot. She drank it reluctantly. If I were to guess, I would say she didn't drink often, because that single shot had a hell of an effect on her. You could actually _see _her loosen up.

"Well this ought to be fun." Remus muttered. Lily and James were too far gone to have heard.

"Definitely. They get together tonight, I bet." I said.

"You think so? I bet Lily can fend him off."

"Yeah? How much?"

"Ten."

"Okay. Ten on James."

"Ten on us." Bianca said from beside me.

"You're supporting James?" Moony asked her.

"Yep."

He shrugged, putting the money into our bet pouch. Along with more important things like James' invisibility cloak and the marauders map, our bet pouch made things constantly entertaining for us.

"Ten on James." Sienna muttered, putting down her money as well.

"Good! A payday. I haven't had anything good from Honeydukes in a while."

"McGonagall!" Lily shrieked when James had reached her knees. It wasn't public knowledge, but just behind her knee was a little spot where she was extremely ticklish.

"Padfoot?" James said gleefully.

I poured out more amber liquid for Lily and she shot me a baleful glare.

"Slughorn."

"No." Shot.

"Snape."

"Ugh." Shot.

James' finger slid over her ticklish spot, and instead of shrieking like I expected, she sighed and closed her eyes. Christ. If this meant that they were going to act sappy all the time from then on, I was going to be spending a lot more time with Moony and Wormtail. After being really happy that James finally got the girl, of course.

"Wormtail." She whispered.

James rolled his eyes. Shot.

Her eyes opened in wonder as Prongs' fingers trailed further up her leg. "Me." She breathed, undulating beneath his fingers like a ribbon. Rather reluctantly, he withdrew his hands.

"Alright. Who's next?" James asked grouchily.

"I'll go." Said Sienna. And if she picked Remus, we'd be there all night long. Remus was possibly the best nervous game player in Hogwarts. The round only ended when Remus got drunk and said "Nervous" out of boredom.

"By a bottle." I said, interrupting whatever she was going to say.

"What? Why? James didn't have to!" She protested.

"We'll be here until next month is why." Lily muttered from the side. I wondered why there wasn't witty remark from James until I saw his dreamy, glazed over eyes. Damn.

"To paraphrase Lily's excellent observation, you and Remus take forever."

"Okay, fine. Spin the bottle, then."

I handed to Remus, who looked at me murderously. I shrugged an apology.

The bottle spun for quite a while, before landing on Bianca. James and I were the first to burst out laughing. Remus was torn between seeing his girlfriend with someone else, _a girl, _no less, and laughing like us. Lily was grinning too, but her eyes were out of focus. Five shots? Six? That would probably do it for her.

"Get this over with, shall we?" Sienna said good-naturedly, her bell like voice and Spanish accent making it easy for me to see what Remus saw in the girl.

Theirs was a quick game, where Bianca guessed first Remus, then Sienna's sister, Sierra, before sighing out an exasperated, "Nervous." The two shots seemed to have had no effect on Bianca. She looked like she'd just had water. I knew from experience that firewhiskey caused some light headedness even at the first shot.

Sienna spun the bottle, and it landed on me.

"Your turn." She grinned at me.

"With pleasure."

The bottle spun and spun and spun and finally landed on…Bianca.

I wasn't really sure how I felt. Sure, she's grown bizarrely close to all of us in a very short amount of time, but her well hidden innuendoes, usually pointed at me, the occasional wink, and of course, male pride, which refused to let me like Bianca, left me a very confused man. Oh, well. The girl _did _have quite the set of legs.

She unzipped her boots and let them fall to the ground, holding her ankles a foot in the air, a smile playing around the edge of her lips. A challenge. I grinned in anticipation.

I was _pretty _proud of how slowly I was going.

"James." She said. I scoffed and shook my head, pointing at the bottle. She quickly had a shot, and launched into a series of names.

"Remus. Sierra. Sienna. Peter. Yourself. Me. Elizabeth Allen. Allison Peters."

I shook my head again, and laughed. "How many, Prongs? Seven?"

He responded in negative. "Eight."

I was amazed at how fast the girl drank. Had it been me, I would have been sputtering at six.

"Dumbledore. McGonagall. Flitwick. Hagrid. Filch." She was firing off names so quickly, that I had only gotten up mid-calf by this time.

"Five." She was a little dazed, though, so I took pity on her and said, "But you're getting warmer."

"What was the last thing I said?" She muttered after downing the shots, eyes unfocussed. "Oh, yeah. Filch. So it's a squib? But we don't know any squibs! So maybe it's just someone who's pathetic with a wand. Pettigrew? No, I already said his name."

She was slurring her words by now.

"Maybe it's Filch's friend. But he doesn't even have any friends; mean, grumpy bastard he is." She started muttering something unintelligible, while I watched on, fascinated. The chink of coins got a little louder.

"Focus, Bianca." A tan hand smacked her knee.

"Thanks, Sierra." She mumbled. "Hey, I know! It's his girlfriend, Madam Pince!"

"Nope." I laughed yet again.

"Mrs. Norris?" She asked doubtfully. James had already poured a shot out. I stopped him just in time, though. Bianca was already accepting it.

"Yep." I told her.

"I need to visit the washroom." she sighed, getting up. She stumbled off in the complete wrong direction. I hurried after her, but I had lost precious moments laughing. She was already opening the main door.

"Hide!" I threw behind my shoulder as I sprinted after her.

I had just pulled her back, and walked straight into Dumbledore. And McGonagall. Great.

"Mr. Black?"

"Yes, professor? I tried desperately to save us both.

"Do I smell alcohol?" Dumbledore asked mildly.

I decided to be honest. "Maybe a little, sir." Okay, partially honest.

"Assist Ms. Hughes to the common room. I shall see you both first thing Monday morning." McGonagall piped in.

More detention? Really?

_Rose. _

**What do you think? Inbox me, review, whatever. Just let me know. Please. And if you really and truly like it, please recommend it to people? Please? **


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm asking you not to hate me, because it wasn't my fault that I couldn't update for so long. I had work. My boss hates me, and I've got a couple of things going on. But you know how much I love you all, right? I love you like crazy. Just remember that! I'm really sorry for the lateness, but Merry Christmas, dears!**

**And **_**I Am A Witch Really: **_**You inspire me. **

"_All I needed was a proper shag and I'd be of sane mind again." _

"I could play up my knee, you know! Get us _both _out of detention, stay in the hospital wing."

"Not a chance. McGonagall will catch you before the lie is out of your mouth."

She murmured something I couldn't hear, though I was almost certain I caught the words, _something else of out my mouth. _But of course, I couldn't be sure.

McGonagall looked abominably pleased for that time of the godforsaken morning. It couldn't have been any better for the heavily hung over Bianca.

"Ms. Hughes." She tapped her chin thoughtfully, though I would _swear _she wore a smirk. "Of course, I was told of your famous rebellious streak, but I assume you know the rules for alcohol consumption at Hogwarts?"

"Not really, Professor." She was remarkably good at covering up her hangover.

"Well, let me make this very clear. The students of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry –" She was cut short by a stunning emerald flame. I expected it to be Professor Sprout. She and McGonagall were hunched over books a lot. Instead, it was Professor Dumbledore. Bianca's bright smile faltered just a little, and as for me? I was surprised, to say the least.

"I shall take care of it, Minerva. I assume that pile of books has been pining for you." He said with a wink. "Anyhow, I doubt you need to repeat the rule to Mr. Black. How many rules did Argus have you memorize the last time, Mr. Black?"

"Five forty-two." I said, staring down at my feet. The eccentric old man chuckled. "Follow me, would you?"

And we shuffled behind him silently.

He seemed content in the awkward silence. He hummed to himself just a bit. We came to a standstill in front of the butt-ugly gargoyle. Why didn't Dumbledore get a Veela in front of his magnificent office anyway?

"Hmm. EarwaxFlavoredBertieBott'sEveryFlavorJellyBean" Dumbledore said in one giant breath. Classy. I chuckled.

"Disgusting, aren't they, Mr. Black?" And I was so sure that he was snickering too.

We went up to his office in silence, Bianca carefully contemplating her nails.

"I have decided what it's going to be." Dumbledore said, finally.

"What what's going to be, Professor?" Bianca asked politely.

"Your detention. Since Mr. Black is already in detention for, I believe, an extra month, quote Professor McGonagall, I believe this time, _you _are at fault, Ms. Hughes. Would you dispute that?"

"No, sir." I was so grateful that the breath I had been holding came out in a giant _whoosh_.

"Alright, then. I think it should be quite the opposite of your current detention. It is next Saturday, your Hogsmeade weekend, is it not?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, this shall be your detention. You shall go alone. Mr. Black shall not accompany you on this trip."

"Yes, sir." Her carefully blank face revealed nothing.

* * *

><p>"So, you'll have fun at Hogsmeade, won't you?"<p>

There was an almost unnoticeable note of melancholy in her voice. I tried to tease it out of her.

"_Want me_ along, do you?"

She was not so far gone that she did not respond with a dirty look.

"Brad will be coming over this weekend." She said, a spark of life in her voice. "I wanted you to meet him." She turned to face me, one delicate hand on my shoulder as if to say something, but then changed her mind and turned to head up to her dormitory. That really left my head spinning a little. I went back down by the fireplace.

"So what is it?" James asked. "McGonagall extend your detention?"

"Yeah. I'm a week into December, now. I wouldn't be surprised if she told me to go back to her place over Christmas break." I said. "But the weird thing was, _Dumbledore _set _her _detention. Not me. And it was Dumbledore, not McGonagall. And it isn't even detention, really. She gets the Hogsmeade weekend free, and so do I."

"The man has his reasons for everything, though, doesn't he?"

"I s'pose so, yeah." I responded dully.

* * *

><p>I was sitting on my four-poster, re-planning my Hogsmeade weekend when I heard loud voices float in through the door.<p>

"Please, Lily? _Please?_" James was pleading with Lily Friday evening in the common room, October 8th. "I promise I'll be good, and not too pushy, and nice to _Marlene_," He wrinkled his nose, "And I won't go into Zonko's at all, and you can drag me to Madam Pudifoot's if you like, just..._please_, Lily!"

"James? James! Stop. Yes, I'll go with you." She said with the threat of a laugh in her voice.

"Really?" He looked like Christmas had come early. I shook my head.

"Yep." She said simply.

"It's a date, then!" He whooped before heading up to the dormitory.

"I never said that, James!" She called behind him, laughing, as he burst into the dormitory, almost falling onto my bed.

"You're done for, mate." I said, grinning.

"Hello, kettle." He said, returning the smirk.

"Me?" I raised an eyebrow. "_I'm _whipped, Prongs? I would like to draw your attention to the fact that you're the one who's been pining after Lily for the last seven years."

"And you're just as bad. And you've only been in it for about two months."

"What the hell are you talking about, Potter?"

"_Everyone _knows you have a penchant for the Irish, Padfoot."

"Wait…Bianca?" I asked, bewildered.

"_Yes,_ Bianca, you fool."

"Have you not noticed, Prongs, that we were _forced _together?"

He raised an eyebrow so high that I was afraid it was going to pop off.

"Okay, fine. Yeah, she's my friend. A really good friend. But so is Lily." I smirked, because this really did irritate him like crazy.

"Really, Padfoot? I just got her to agree to go to Hogsmeade with me and you're already cracking bad jokes?"

"Who said I was joking?" I began, but quickly amended when I saw his expression. "Alright, already. I'm not gonna steal anything from you. Merlin."

And I was off the hook.

"I need help, Snuffles. I mean, I've been begging and begging and groveling and putting myself in _really _pathetic places for this, but now…I'm kind of at a loss. What do I do? I mean, I know you're gonna say I should hold back and not be too pushy and I know all of that, but I mean, what do you think she's going to expect?"

"Are you finished?" I asked with a grin. He let out a frustrated little breath.

"Come on, let's go to the Room of Requirement. I'm sure if we asked Aberforth, he'd be able to help us."

"Y'know, I've never been into his place. Why'd you think he never lets us go there?" James mused as we set off with the cloak and the map.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good._" I shrugged in response to his non-question. "Hell if I know. You know, he kind of reminds me of Dumbledore."

"Doesn't he, though?"

We were fairly quiet until James poked fun at Sir Cadogan's portrait. Of course, the amusing fellow decided to chase us through the halls, waking up ever portrait and effectively making us laugh so hard our stomachs were aching. Of course, this stint of stupidity led us straight into Filch and his ugly cat.

"Oho. Students caught after curfew? Well, this means detention, does it not?"

"It's alright, Filch. We were going to see Professor McGonagall."

"So?" The impudent little fool asked, staring up into James' face. "You are _still _a student, are you not, Potter? Not that important at all. "

Oh. This was not good. James has always been very proud of his Head Boy badge.

"I'm the Head-friggin'-boy, you bloody squib. I can be out after hours if I need to be and you and your moronic cat have no right to stop me." He roared at him. Honestly, I thought Filch looked a little scared.

"Alright, alright. Don't spit in my face. Go. Go where you like. To hell if you please." He muttered, walking away. "Come, Mrs. Norris."

* * *

><p>"My, you look awfully worked up today, Potter. 'Lo, Black." He nodded at us.<p>

"Why do you always hang out here, Aberforth?" James asked, not for the first time.

"I'm always waiting for you, Potter."

"Don't be queer, Ab." I grinned.

"Oh, you wouldn't come in here if I was, would you? Would you like me to count off the kinds of questions you've asked me?"

I felt my face burn as I tried to fight off a grin. Both James and I had asked the most ridiculous drunken questions, and gotten blunt replies that had made me giggle like a girl, and shut my ears in the oven, at the same time.

"Well, Padfoot here has a problem. And so do I."

"Well, let's hear it then. And have you out of my place as soon as possible."

"Awh, Ab. Really feeling the love now."

"Come on," He grumbled, "I haven't got all night."

"Can we at least get a firewhiskey?"

"Never leave my place without it." He shrugged, passing us a bottle each.

We clinked bottles. "Cheers, mate." I said, chugging it down. The burn of the alcohol cleared my head and made me slightly happier.

"You first, Potter." He said.

"Well, mine is easy, really. You remember Lily Evans?"

"Yeah, of course. Comes to the Three Broomsticks often, sometimes with Black, sometimes with that nasty Marlene. Bright girl, very pretty."

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Yeah, well, I got her to go out with me."

"Where did you go?" He asked interestedly, though he pretended he wasn't.

"We haven't gone yet, Ab. That's the point."

"You, boy, need to speak in grammatically correct English. You will ruin the language, I tell you."

"Whatever. _I got her to agree to go to Hogsmeade with me. _Better?"

"Much."

"Okay, so I guess I need to know what I should do. I mean, I want to do something nice for her, not too pushy, and not cheap. I want it to be like her…vibrant and happy and…you know, Lily."

"Well, then Potter, you're an absolute fool. Why do you want to bring her to Hogsmeade of all places, where she's been a hundred times over?"

"Because…there's nowhere else to go?"

"Well, thank Merlin you came to me."

"Alright. All hail the great Aberforth, emperor most high of brilliant ideas."

"Soothes my soul to hear that, Potter." He grinned.

"Well?" James raised an eyebrow.

"Have you been past the Forbidden Forest before? Not past it, exactly, but around it. There's a lovely place there, near the lake, where you can hear the Mermaids sing, and the aquatic life - the good kind – underneath. You should take her somewhere nice. Or you could ignore me and take her to Madam Pudifoot's. Funny little lady." He chuckled.

"Put it on the map?" he asked.

"Sure." James tapped the map open and Aberforth – who had actually told us about the third passageway into Hogsmeade, had helped us with some little details – drew out a little section near the Forbidden Forest.

"Thanks. And now, it's Sirius' turn."

"Go on, son."

"Well, Aberforth, I don't have a problem. James just makes it sound like it because he's lonely."

"Shut up, Padfoot." He said. "There's an Irish lass who's been transferred from St. Peter's this year. Pretty thing, and for his first detention this year, Padfoot has to tail her wherever she goes. Like a student guide. It's quite funny, actually. But Sirius here has gone and fallen for her. Wickedly funny little thing, she is."

"Foolish boy, Sirius. Don't be a prick with an ego. Although it might be too late for that." He chuckled a little at my expense. "Is she clever?"

"Very."

"Nice?"

"Helps me out all the time."

"Does she put you in place?"

"Yep."

"Then you need to eat your pride and ask her out, though you might not have to grovel quite as much as Potter, here. She likes you, this girl?"

"Seems like it. I don't know."

"You need to give it a shot. Don't let her get away, or you'll end up running a bar one day with a portrait for a best friend."

I didn't know whether or not he knew that I didn't understand a word he said. And then I realized it. All I needed was a good shag to clear my head. All I needed was a good shag to be of sane mind again.

**For the sake of my story, please accept my version of events. Let us say that Aberforth's relation to Dumbledore is not common knowledge yet, and since I can't remember the name of his joint, or even if I read it in the book, I'm not gonna give it a name. And he's been friendly with the boys. Please?**

**Rose. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Quick A/N, sweethearts: Do you think I should put in M rated parts yet? What can I say; it's a way to kill tension, writing smut. So, should I? Let me know, okay? You know how I love all of you?**

**Special thanks to Terrorist Of The Seven Seas, Hellfire Putten Ninja and **_**I Am A Witch Really: **_**You make me feel special**_**. **_**And every reviewer I was too much of a jerk never to respond to. You know I love you guys. **

**Please be warned, there is an OOC here. Bear with me. **

"_Didn't I just demonstrate how bloody great I think Bianca is?"_

There was a small brown owl pecking at the common room window as I diligently did a little of my Charms homework. I frowned when I recognized it.

"Speck?" I asked, opening the window and getting hit in the face with a blast of a crisp fall breeze.

The midget hooted at me. "Go back," I said, but the thing hopped about on my paper, putting its little talon marks all over my homework.

"No, stop." I swatted the pygmy. "Fine. Wait." I grabbed it in one hand and pulled open the ribbon tying the letter to its leg.

I fished around in my pocket for an owl treat, but ended up with only a jelly bean. "I hope you're lucky." I told it. The bean was bright green, and it could be anything, from green apple to…anything.

He reacted rather cheerily, and started hopping on my homework again. "Wait with me, will you?" I asked him. He obliged.

My heart sank. Speck belonged to my family. I ran my fingers over the familiar Black family crest on the envelope and Mother's familiar writing. Ripping off the envelope, I threw it into the fire. I had no desire to be a part of the filthy, incestuous blood-line, the whole lot of which were on their way to becoming death-eaters. Other than Nymphadora (Bubbly four year old) and her parents, of course. I didn't think there was _one _member on the tapestry who wasn't a Slytherin, but then again, it could be chance. I didn't know the Tonks' very well, but I'd actually done a happy jig when my mother had informed me that Andromeda had married someone who wasn't related to us. A muggle-born, no less.

Without unfolding the letter, I jogged up the stairs and deposited it with all the others in a box under my bed.

-x-

"Don't feel like it." I shrugged when Peter started pestering me about why I wasn't going to Hogsmeade.

"Come on, Padfoot. It'll be fun."

"Go snog someone, Peter. She'll go with you to Hogsmeade."

He had a look of concern on his face. "Something the matter, Sirius?"

"No, I'm okay, Wormtail. Go. Didn't you have a date with Jasmine Brown?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I was wondering how that happened.

"Yeah. She's great. But it's a little scary, going out with her."

"Who the hell made you a Gryffindor?" I frowned.

"Yeah, you're right. Remus is going, isn't he?" He asked, looking worried.

"Jasmine is going, isn't she?" I shot back, grinning. "Go. I'll be okay." I said, answering the question he didn't want to ask.

"If you're sure, Padfoot."

"I'm sure, Wormtail."

He sat down next to me with his gossip face on, though I was certain I'd just told him to go to Hogsmeade. I shook my head, partially at his stubbornness, partially at his gossip-face. It was mousy, with this little twitch in his nose, making him look like he was going to sneeze. It was funny as hell.

"Hey, Padfoot, didja hear about that Hufflepuff, Diggory?" He asked gleefully. I knew there was a little animosity between them, but I never did find out why.

"No, what?" I asked, curious.

"He asked Bianca out!" He snickered.

"He did?" I asked, bothered a little.

"Yeah, he did. That…thing, with Bianca!"

"Didn't she shoot him down?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound mental.

"No, she didn't! She agreed! She was nice about it. Diggory! That's pretty boy-egghead!" He cackled before setting off.

Well, that settled it. I was going to Hogsmeade and finding myself a girl to do.

"Peter, wait!" I called out. He looked at me funnily. "Changed my mind, I guess." I shrugged.

I hurried up to the dorm and grabbed the marauder's map, quickly shrugging into my jacket – it was damned cold outside and even I couldn't get a girl while my teeth were chattering.

-x-

"Hey, Wormtail. Good luck." I said, pointing to the Jasmine Brown ink-dot which was around the corner.

"Thanks, mate." He grinned at me, before hurrying off.

I strolled off in the other direction, where Remus was waiting for me. (Speck had delivered a message for me.)

"Remus, thanks for coming."

"I didn't do it for you. I was getting bored." He said, looking just as he said.

"Yeah, yeah." I said. "Don't have to be snappy 'cause Sienna's on leave."

"Well?" He raised his brow at me as if to say _yeah, really? _"So what do you want?"

"Nothing, really. I was just about to ask someone to go to Hogsmeade with me. I want your opinion. Who do you think wouldn't mind?"

"Nobody would mind going, Sirius. It's what comes after that matters to them. I assume you're thinking of somebody who would be detached enough for you?"

"Right on, Moony."

"Well, what about that sixth year, Alyssa Mendelson?"

"Hufflepuff beater?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ice queen, I've heard." He said to me in a confidential whisper. "Why exactly are you doing this, Black?"

"Well, _Lupin, _I'm in the mood for it. I've missed not having a girl to play with."

"Didn't you and Lily have a bet about this?"

"Who cares about the friggin' bet?" I asked, growing frustrated.

"Fine, fine. You'll find Alyssa in the Owlery, I think."

"What are you gonna do?" I asked.

"Watch. I'll keep the map and help you out in case something happens." He tapped the map saying the _Auditus Verbatum_ spell. Useful little thing, really. It would let you eavesdrop on any conversation without being there.

"Thanks, Moony. I owe you – a million by this time."

"Yeah, whatever." He shrugged, staring intently at the map. "I'll see you in Hogsmeade." He said, jingling the bag of money he'd won the other night. James and Lily had _not _gotten together that night.

-x-

"Hello." I said softly, walking up to Vee, where Alyssa was standing. Very convenient for me. I petted my owl and gave her a treat, before repeating my greeting towards the soft, floral smelling curls in front of me.

"Hi." She turned around, giving me a small smile. Not even _the _ice queen could resist. It added to my ego.

Feeling the need to fill the silence, she said, "Sending a letter?" She had a nice voice, sort of breathy, but also very sweet. She looked curiously at my empty hand.

"No." I decided that I wanted to be honest with her. "I came to find you, Alyssa."

"Yeah?" She said, raising an eyebrow. Okay, so maybe she _was _a bit immune.

"Yes, of course. I was wondering…" I trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would come to Hogsmeade with me. I'd like to go with you, if you'll accompany me." I said softly, the plea in my voice was making it lilt.

She glanced at me shrewdly. "You know I'm not that foolish, Sirius Black." Her voice got softer when she said my name. "I know I'm known as an ice-cold bitch around here, but don't play games with me. It won't work. At least, not for you. It's blatantly obvious, the way you're always after Bianca."

I was taken aback. My, she was quick. "I'd still like you to go with me. Everyone has already left, and I'm in the mood to go. Besides, you're quite a bit of fun. I remember the party last year, when we had a bunch of Hufflepuffs over in our common room." I winked as she colored.

"I'll go with you, Sirius, on one condition." She said with a warning in her voice.

I waited.

"After today, don't you dare ignore me. It will cause some annoyance in the hallways for me, so you _will _be friendly with me later, and when you see me in the corridors, you _will _wave. Once in a while, you _will _chat me up, because by God, Black, I will not be humiliated because of this."

I liked this girl already. She had the guts to speak up to me, and not giggle when I glanced at her and she blushed. Yeah, I liked her.

-x-

I met Alyssa just at the gates, where we set off. Moony had left a note behind one of our usual loose stones, telling me he had already left.

"Bit chilly, isn't it." She said, shivering delicately.

"It _is _October, but I do see your point. It's a little _more _than chilly, in fact. You're welcome to my jacket, though." I said. It was only the gentlemanly thing to do.

"Thanks." She shuddered once more as she shrugged into my jacket. It was not that large on her, because she was quite tall. Not as tall as me, but a fair bit taller than Bianca. Whenever I gave _her _my jacket, she would struggle to pull her hands out until I helped her. It was rather comical.

"So, since I'm on your _friendly_ list now, do I get to hear the gossip?" She asked, emphasizing the promise she had retrieved from me.

"Sure." I laughed. "What do you want to know?"

"First, something I've been curious about for a while. Please don't take offense, but your cousins and relatives in Slytherin…well, they're kind of…um, well, aren't they kind of…"

"Evil? Vile? Monstrous?" I finished for her, grinning to show her it was alright.

"Well, I was going to go with something a little more subtle. But my point is, you're _not. _When you aren't being pig-headed, or mean to girls, you're genuinely nice to little kids – the first years _adore _you. They want to be like you. Not arrogant, but smart and somehow, they see you as responsible. Someone _cool. _Someone who does well in class, and is well liked, and good at Quidditch. So why is the rest of your family like this? Except Regulus, of course."

"Thank you for that." I said, raising an eyebrow. I didn't know that I had a good influence on anyone. It was damn heartening. "But what about Regulus?"

"I share a couple of classes with him, and he's the only decent Slytherin. But of course, Bellatrix keeps pushing him to do – well I don't know what, but _it_, apparently, is _of great importance to him." _ She mimicked my cousin well.

"Well, you know _dear _Bella. Always the bitchy kind. But not harmless. I'm asking you, Alyssa, to please stay away from her. And that's nice about Regulus. I don't really talk to him that much, but it's good to know that he's still…_decent._" I said, using her word.

Actually, I was feeling pretty damn proud of my brother for having fought off the peer pressure so well, but he was a Black to the core, and I didn't doubt that it wouldn't be long before something really did happen to make him snap. Much as I wanted to protect him, he hated my guts, and had begun abruptly leaving rooms when I entered them. Well. I would see what I could do. I sighed. This meant writing to my mother. Ugh.

"Well. Okay. Here's my next question. Why do you and your friends have such funny nicknames? James is, I believe, Prongs. Remus, you call Moony, and Peter is Wormtail? And you…Padfoot? Like a dog?" First Bianca, then her, what was it with these girls and quickly matching _Padfoot _to a dog?

"I came up with them. You know how James had a giant ego earlier? Prongs. Like horns made of ego." I chuckled. "Wormtail – well, doesn't he look like a rat to you? And tell me I don't remind you of a great big wolf."

"All right, I get it. You don't want to tell me. You don't have to lie to me, you know?"

"Sorry. Not my secret to share." I said, grinning, and a little ashamed.

"Yeah, I got that. But you're lucky, you know? To have such close friends?"

"Yeah, I know. But what about you? Who are _your _closest friends?"

"I…" She took a deep breath. "I'm not that…social. I do talk to Molly Weasley sometimes, and Marlene McKinnon. Amelia Bones of my class. But…that's about it. I mean, there's a reason I go that dumb nickname – Ice Princess."

I hesitated, then said what I knew she needed to hear. "For all you've said so far, you're being very open with _me. _So I think they're jealous of you. Clever girl, pretty to boot, and you've got standard – they're a little frightened, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess." And just like that, I had a new sister.

-x-

The Three Broomsticks was crowded that day and spirits were high. Everyone was noise and boisterous, smacking or kicking, or generally having a good time. After about an hour or two spent at Zonko's, then at the sweet shop, and then near the Shreiking Shack, Alyssa had begged off, and I was in no mood to go back to the castle, so I was waiting for Remus to show up.

"Oi, Sirius!" A bell like voice called my name, sounding a little drunk. Did I recognize the brougish tongue? Yes, yes I did.

"Hello, Bianca." I said, a genuine smile crossing my face. She looked utterly relaxed. And _happy. _

"Since you're here, Sirius, I want you to meet Brad. Will you?" The hint of uncertainty in her voice made me sad. Did she really think that I wouldn't give her something that simple?

"Of course. Let's go."

She looked away. "I, er, have to meet Lily. Could you just…talk to him, though. I want him to meet you."

And she rushed off, giving Amos Diggory a quick peck. I averted my gaze. Just to be polite, I told myself. I walked towards the general direction she had pointed, though I had no clue who she meant.

Something tugged at my arm. Amos Diggory, in a blatant attempt to be _cool_.

"Damn, Sirius." He said in an affected manner, "Bianca Hughes. You _have _to let me know if you ever get a piece of that." He sighed in a longing way, lust coloring his expression.

My vision was tinged with red and there was a distinct taste of metal on my tongue. My brain had already decided to hit him, but apparently, my arm was faster. So Diggory ended up getting it twice. It would certainly leave a mark. I smiled in grim satisfaction. Leaning in very close, I said, "Don't. Ever. Speak. Of Her. Like that. Am I very clear, Diggory?" I said as menacingly as possible. I thought I felt him tremble.

Though I knew the pretty girl could take care of herself, and though I didn't know _what _she was to me, I _did _know that there was a deep seated affection for her, buried in me.

I loped over to Madame Rosemerta and asked her for a bottle of firewhiskey. Shaking her head at me, she handed me one, and ruffled my hair. "You, Sirius, need to stay sober. I hear it's a big day for you."

"Huh?"

"Aren't you meeting the girl's brother? It's a big thing to meet family, you know." She winked.

"Bro – Bianca's brother? What?" I said, shocked. Is that how it looked to everyone? Well. _Well. _

"Go on, boy. Go meet him." She waved vaguely. Women. I sat down at an empty table close to a tall, fit looking guy. Must be from these strange parts around.

I cracked the bottle open and took a swig. It did well to clear my head.

"Sirius Black?" I heard the man next to me speak. He knew my name. Well, I guess quite a few people did.

"Yeah?"

"I hope you're not that drunk around my sister all the time." He said in a deep voice.

"Who _is _your sister?" I said absently, and then turned to look at him. There was something so familiar in that tone of blue.

Before he could reply. "Bianca? You're Brad Hughes? Captain, sorry."

"Don't bother, you can call me Brad. But yes. And let me just cut the crap and get straight to it. I'm here essentially for Bianca's sake. She hurts, I know, so," He said, looking at me piercingly. "Do you treat my baby sister right? Because if I ever hear of you hurting her – well, I've not forgotten to use my wand." He was a little menacing.

"Huh?" I asked, staring like a fool. "Oh. _Oh. _You – I – think that – how? – not that – I." I stuttered, then paused before starting again.

"I'm not _with _Bianca. I'm her newest bodyguard." I smiled, using her term. A hint of annoyance touched me now, though. "Did I _not _just demonstrate how bloody great I think Bianca is, though? I defended her against that _pig _there, didn't I?"

"Oh." He said quietly. "But I could have sworn…" He muttered. "You, however, seem to be very good friends with her."

"Yeah. She's…one of my best friends."

"Good. Then tell me, is she happy? Content?" His brow furrowed just like Bianca's.

"Usually." I said, frowning. "But there are times when she's just randomly sad and detached, but that fades fast. I don't know." I shrugged.

"Well, that's all I need to know, I suppose. You wouldn't mind giving this to her, would you?" He handed me a heavy envelope with elegant but simple writing across it.

_Bianca Hughes._

"What is it?" I asked before I could help myself. "Sorry. None of my business, I know." But he could hear the curiosity in my voice still.

He shrugged it off. "Wedding invitation. I'm getting married, Sirius, to the girl I love. And I wanted my sister's approval. I'll be bringing her here soon, so I'd appreciate it if you would let me know when your next trip it."

"Sure. I'll…write to you?"

"Thank you." And there was fervent gratitude in his voice.

Somehow, past the miscommunication, I had become a friend to Bianca's brother. I smiled at the thought.

-x-

Paying of Peeves so he wouldn't bother me: five galleons. A bottle of rosewood mead: twelve galleons, four sickles. Bianca jumping off the walls when she heard of her brother getting married: Priceless.

**I don't know if Ted Tonks was a muggle born or not, but it seemed appropriate. **

**It's rather difficult writing from a boy's point of view, considering the extremely feminine event looming over me currently, so please forgive me if Sirius sounded anything less than a wonderfully manly, man. **

**Also, I just read a fabulous fic, Lie To Me, by, I believe, Mibamonster. I'm not sure whether or not that's right, but check it out. It's wonderful. **

**Dear everyone reading this. Please, please, please. If you truly like the fic, pass it on. This isn't a good time not to feel loved. 3**

_Rose. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Once again, I thank: FallenAngelFox, DreamChaser6, and the previously mentioned fanfickers. You make my day(s) with your wonderfulness. Of course, reviews are always welcome. **

**I have a confession to make. I was just going where this took me, but then I decided on a storyline. So yeah, in a couple of chapters, maybe, it'll get serious. Yes, serious, not Sirius. It was already Sirius. But I'm rambling. Go on, read. **

"_I knew this was a mistake." _

"Get over yourself, Sirius." Lily said, staring at me as though she was trying to penetrate my mind.

"I _can't_, Lily. It's not possible." I grinned at her, trying to avoid the topic. Once again, we were discussing my refusal to admit that I liked Bianca. _Admit. _That was Lily's word. Of course, it didn't matter what I felt or thought, but I just had to _admit _that I liked her.

"Shut up, Black. Now isn't the time for arrogance. You listen to me. You, Sirius, are a Marauder." She let that hang for a second or two. "A Gryffindor." Dramatic pause. "_And a man._ So _you _make the first move."

"Even if I don't feel that way about her?" I asked, frustrated.

"Stop being stubborn, Sirius!" She threw up her hands. "Or vain, for that matter. The world _will not _collapse if, for once, you allow yourself to go first. Eat your pride, for once!" She glared.

"Pride?" I glared back.

She took a deep, calming breath. "What she feels for you is very strong, Sirius, and that's because you've been good to her. When she suffers her bouts of depression, we pretend not to notice, because she _won't confide in anyone but you._ Isn't that all the sign you need? Or are you afraid that she doesn't feel the same about you?" Her glare turned into a pleading expression. "She's afraid too, damn you! All said and done, Sirius, when she first heard of you, it was Emma Prince telling her about the many girls that you've…_been _with." She took a deep breath, and pulled out a rubber band from her pocket to tie her hair back. It made her earnest expression easier to see, and that wasn't doing me any favors.

"Alright, fine!" I yelled. "She's hot! She's got sexy legs that would look great in those stripper-type heels. Her hair is sexy, and the way it swings when she's excited is sexy too. She's damn good looking, with a great figure to boot. Happy?" I glared.

"Sirius Black." She said in her most menacing voice. "Never again, will you _ever_, let me hear you speak of her that way. Do I make myself clear? You're a better person than that, and I won't have you speaking that way about my friend."

"I'm done here, Lily. I can't talk about this right now." I turned and walked out of the common room. Well, it was time to put my earlier plan into action.

* * *

><p>-x-<p>

"James!" I half-roared, startling the Screechsnaps in his box [detention for Professor Sprout], which promptly began to snap and squeal, true to their names. He put the lid on them and yelled at them, some very colorful words shutting them up.

"Yeah?" He said, mellower than he was in September. Did Lily _have _to make him easier to live with? It made it so much more difficult to be mad at her.

"What's the password to the bathroom on the fourth floor?" I glowered. He took in my expression calmly, as though trying to figure out how to react. It made me angrier.

With a small smile, he replied. "Calla Lily. Why?" He asked.

I snorted. "Did you set that?"

"How did you figure that out?" He smirked in my direction. "Here, make yourself useful." He threw the cardboard box at me.

"Drop these off at the far end for me, and then help me get the rest of these. Sprout says that I need to get this entire patch before my next detention."

"Damn. I hate it when she keeps changing detentions." I grinned sympathetically at him. "What did you do this time?"

"Who do you think turned Snivelly's hair fluorescent yellow?"

"That was you?" I affected a pout. "I was thinking that we were expanding. I thought the little gits had finally caught on." And then I changed my expression to one closely similar to Lily's disapproving looks. "You're Head-Boy, James. You ought to know better than that."

"Knock it off." He shoved my shoulder, handing me a pair of gloves. "It won't come off for a week unless he shaves it off. The grease makes it shine more." He snickered. "Get started in that corner."

We started on the opposite sides of each column of the wriggling plants, throwing them together as fast as we could, making it a race. A competitive streak was almost compulsory in a Gryffindor. I ripped through the Screechsnaps, snapping at them when they bit my fingers.

"Stupid plant!" I growled at one which had been hanging from my thumb for the past minute.

"Stupid human." It squeaked back, releasing my thumb. I quickly put the lid back on the box, levitating it to the far end of the Greenhouse. I didn't have the same restrictions as James, so _my _wand was still fully functional. James glowered at me each time I used it, so I summoned the next empty box just the same way.

After an hour and half of pulling and fighting with some particularly foul-mouthed Screechsnaps, I was sick of it. I glanced back at the pile of the finished boxes. At a quick count, there were almost thirty.

"I'm bloody sick of these potty-mouthed plants. Have you been teaching them, Prongs?"

"I only met 'em tonight, Padfoot. Hmm…just what kind of language does Professor Sprout use around these things?"

I laughed, throwing the gloves back at him. He caught and pocketed them. "Leaving?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, sorry I have to cancel our date." I made a kissy face at him.

He laughed a huge, belly laugh. "You available tomorrow night, Padfoot?" He was making googly eyes at me.

"Sure, let me call Lily, and we'll make it a ménage a trios."

"Sick man. You ought to get your mind tested."

"Sure. We'll go to Madame Pomfrey together." I said, shutting the door behind me. I stretched, feeling all the stiff knots in my back release. Outside the hot greenhouse, the November air was far more than chilly. The air bit at my exposed face, but it felt good. A contrast to the greenhouse. Of course, by the time I reached the Castle again, my face was numb and my hair was cold, encrusted with bits of ice, which the pine trees lining the greenhouse had helpfully shed on my hair. Well, I could be grateful that they weren't needles.

* * *

><p>-x-<p>

Later, in a completely different atmosphere, I had a girl pressed against my torso.

"Willow…" I sighed, staring into soft gray eyes. Not blue-gray, just gray.

"Hush, Black. I'm fine." And then soft, soft, soft lips were on mine. I didn't have to bend _much _to reach them at all. My hand shaped itself around her waist – Her _bare_ waist. My thumbs were straying higher, to the slip of black material covering her, but each time she squirmed. She _said _she was fine, that _I _was fine where I was, but every time she squirmed, I felt like a git.

And then suddenly, something sparked in her. Every time I pulled back, there was a defined, more aggressive reaction from her. This time, there was something different. Her fingers gripped me tighter, and she was suddenly pushing me towards the wall with the mermaid painting.

Willow Chester. She was actually just what I imagined Rowena Ravenclaw to look like – she had the distinguished, graceful and incredibly _proud _look on her face…except now. The girl who was kissing the corner of my mouth held none of the cold contempt usually displayed on her face. Her cornsilk hair was almost always pulled into a loose braid, except right then. I was not running my fingers through the waves, though I wanted to. It was too intensely sensual a moment to ruin with emotion like that. Her posture was always very stiff, pulled forcefully into a graceful arc, except in my arms. She was rippling like a ribbon.

It was quite simple to get her where she was. I had cornered her in one of the empty corridors. She was not that much younger than I was. We were _friends. _Kind of. It hadn't taken that long. She was one of the people who preferred it when I held back, letting her do the work. I let her steer our conversation where she liked, and inserted my opinion as required. It didn't take long to end up in the prefect's bathroom, where there was enough steam to justify dropping my shirt. The mirrors were all fogged up, erasing what little shyness she had displayed in the empty corridor.

The buttons on her shirt, however, came off slowly, tantalizingly. One by one, starting from the high collar, the pearl buttons began coming undone. After each button, she would touch the bare skin lightly, and I was fascinated. But being fascinated was all I _could _do. She had flicked her wand to pin my arms where they were. The white silk fell off her shoulders easily, and she was left, clad in the black skirt, and the black lingerie. Wordlessly, she freed my arms, and I flung myself at her with the force of a released prisoner. She fought back equally hard, grabbing at my hair to keep me against the wall, where she wanted me.

"Enough." She growled, throwing herself with all her force at me. I'll admit, it was more than I'd expected, but nothing I couldn't handle. I humored her. She began nibbling at my jaw, touching small kisses all the way to my mouth, and as I opened my mouth to say something, she caught it open. Like some feral cat on the hunt, she just kept pushing forward. Well, if that was how she wanted to play it…I grabbed her by the waist and flipped her around, pinning her shoulders there by sheer brute force. The mermaid clicked her tongue, flitting out of her portrait.

"No, _you_ enough." I said, my voice equally husky. She didn't like that. It was in her _blood _to be bossy and controlling. She wasn't comfortable giving up control, especially because it wouldn't be easy for her to reclaim it. Her hands in my hair began to pull in frustration, rather than in passion. I let up a little, giving her a fighting chance. Grabbing at it immediately, she threw me back against the wall. Honestly, this was the part I enjoyed the most. A girl like Willow, well, it was a _lot _of fun. I grinned. Smirking back, she shimmied out of her skirt, kicking it aside. My breath caught in my throat. Those certainly _were _long legs. Not giving her the satisfaction, though, I immediately attacked her mouth again, and she purred. Literally, purred. I felt it in my mouth. I pulled back to smirk at her.

Pulling at my head, she said, "Shh. Not a word, you hear me?" And we were locked together once more.

"This is getting to be far too much." I said, pushing her by her shoulders. A look of shock crossed her face before understanding colored her eyes. Taking her by surprise, though, I picked her up, and dropped her into the orchid-scented, plain looking water. Laughing a little, she swam a length and came back, dripping absolutely wet – from cornsilk waves to well-tended toes.

I shucked off the well-fitted pants, still left in boxers. I was _not _going to be the first there. Laughing more huskily now, she said, "Well, I'm not going to wait for you."

Grinning evilly, she slid down to one of the submerged marble benches. Lifting one leg out of the water, she turned on a tap which seemed to be dispensing orange-blossom scented soap. Mesmerized by the slow rubbing, I didn't notice the slip of black material floating close the edge of the tub for a second or two. It took me a while to understand what it was. And then the _sounds_! It was not hard to guess what was being rubbed, now that the leg was submerged again. I watched, smirking, taking in the rising of the other leg, the slow sensual repeat, and noting the sounds – the purring, the moaning, the impatient growls, her words of encouragement, telling me to join her. Telling me she was doing my job. But I held on to my resolve. I would _not _be naked before the girl. I would _not. _

Giving up, apparently, she lifted her torso out of the water to undo the clasp on the last remaining garment on her.

"Please. Now, at least." She said, sinking back into the water, just visible from neck-above.

"If you're begging." I said, smirking. She scowled at me. She didn't _beg. _She _never _begged.

And in the biggest cliché of the unfair friggin' world, when there was no body to rake my eyes over, I looked at her face, and just for a second, her eyes were cornflower blue, and her wet hair was black and waist length.

"Please." Her sarcastic remark snapped me out of it. I closed my eyes and breathed in orchids and orange-blossoms. _No. This can _not _be happening. _

And bigger than the biggest cliché of this unfair bloody universe – the door slid open quietly, but loud enough for me to realize it. The face in the door was framed by long black hair.

"Oh." She colored. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." The undercurrent of hurt and anger could have been for an entirely different reason, but I imagined it had something to do with me.

The door shut with a bang. I glanced back at Willow, who was looking at me with an expression of hurt. What did I do?

"I knew this was a mistake." She said before grabbing one of the towels and running away from me.

* * *

><p>'<strong>Lo, everyone. I just got done reading a fanfic, Turncoat, by elizaye. Very, very good. I can't stop thinking of Draco as a dark, brooding, hidden good guy. And he's handsome, so it's just something to think about.<strong>

**As always, reviews are welcome.  
>R. 3<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**My heartfelt thanks: EmiStone, starbolt7, peaceoutrunner23 and mcgonagiggles. The others previously mentioned: I am a witch really, Terrorist of the seven seas, Artie, RiTuxa, rooftopboys, rhea, TWHATT18, Noelle D, MissCheivous12, FallenAngelFox, DreamChaser6, elizaye, and Hellfire Putten Ninja. You know how much I love you guys? No? Well, now you know. I love you guys. Reviews are welcome. **

"_You know I suck at apologies." _

Shrugging back quickly into my clothes, I sprinted like hell through the corridors, searching for the smallest sign of Bianca or Willow. I wasn't sure why, but I needed to apologize to them. No girl ever pulled an expression like that if she wasn't hurt. So, first, I needed Lily.

I hurtled through the corridors, and shouted, "Whizzing Frisbees!" about ten yards from the fat lady. She swung open, and I pulled the door shut behind me, propelling myself into the common room, only to come to a complete stop. Lily sat there in an armchair like the Godfather, waiting for me. I squeezed my eyes shut, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. It looked like I'd done something wrong. She _never _wore _the expression _if James or I weren't in trouble. And I repeat, what did I do?

"Hey, Padfoot." Lily said, scarily calm.

"Hey, Lily." I smiled at her tentatively.

"I've just been reading this book," She pointed to a leather-bound book in her lap. "And I want to try something. Would you be my guinea-pig?"

"Sure…?" I said, _not _liking where this was going. She was too calm. She knew that I'd done something, and I knew I'd done something. The only difference was that she knew what it was, and how I should correct it.

It was definitely a non-verbal spell, probably not something I knew. There was a curious tickling in my head. _Inside my head. _Suddenly, I found myself plunging into a memory. One of _my _memories.

In front of my eyes, the whole day was replayed. School, the fight with Lily, James' detention, Willow, Bianca…and then there was other stuff I didn't want to remember – Concern for Regulus. Storing the letters from home. All my memories, laid out. Suddenly, I realized what was happening. I wrenched myself out of that state, and I couldn't help but to be mad at her.

"Lily!" I stared, half in shock. "What – what the hell?" I asked eloquently.

"It's called Legilimency. Surely you've heard of it." She said, quiet as a ghost.

I shook my head, mute.

"It allows you to see into someone else's mind. Be glad I didn't try to control you. I bet it would've worked." All this was said with a deathly calm. She was scaring me. She sat there, her normally pink face drained of blood. There was a letter lying on the ground near her. You could see pink lines on her face, where she had probably scratched herself trying to wipe her tears. The tear tracks were pretty obvious, too. Her left hand was running its way through her hair repeatedly, and apparently, she didn't notice. There was in ink spill all over her white shirt. What the hell?

"Lily?" I asked, suppressing the million questions at the tip of my tongue for the most important one. "What happened? Why are you so upset?"

"I'm not upset!" She said shrilly. "We _need _to be able to protect ourselves from this jackass. Just who does this Voldemort think he is?" There was a suppressed glee in her quiet voice. "I found Legilimency in the restricted section. I don't know why. I think we need to know this. Especially mudbloods like me." She spat out with venom.

"Lily! Never call yourself that again!" I said, shocked. Lily _hated _that word. "You're _not_ a mudblood. Magic runs undiluted through your veins, given to you by no one. You are strong enough to bear it yourself. There is _nothing _wrong with your blood." I said fiercely. "What brought this on?" I asked in a worried afterthought.

She picked up the letter and dragged herself across the short space to hand it to me. I read it quickly, only just catching the gist of it. It was signed, _Please don't do anything rash. I love you, Lily. I know she was close to you, but you need to stay calm. All my love, Mom. _

My first selfish thought? _My own mother wouldn't be caught dead writing a letter that ended like that._ _Not one addressed to me._

"Lily?" I asked. No response. "Lily…just who is Melissa?"

No response. All of a sudden, she fell across my chest, beating at it. "It's so unfair, Sirius!" She screamed. "She was my best friend! The only one who thinks I'm normal in the outside world! Even my own parents are uneasy when I'm in the house! She knew! _She knew_, and yet she was fine with it! And now she's _dead! _She's _dead_, just because her pure blood parents tend to fraternize with unholy squibs and mudbloods! She's _dead!" _ She screamed, launching into another stream of profanities I didn't know she knew. Was she hysteric? Was I supposed to slap her?

Biting my lip, I landed a sharp blow across her cheek. "Lily, please!" I begged as she continued to swear vengeance against Voldemort. I raised my hand, whether to slap her again or to draw out my wand to calm her down, I didn't know. Thankfully, I was saved from the prospect when James walked through the door.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" He screamed at me.

"She's having a fit, Prongs!" I shouted back helplessly as Lily continued to pound on my chest.

When I looked at him, Lily glanced in the direction as well, and slumped over into his arms. He muttered consolingly to her, and she sobbed, getting ever-quieter.

I rubbed absently at my chest, calling for Kreacher.

With a crack, he appeared. "Master?" He asked, glaring at me insolently.

"Stop looking at me like that, Kreacher." I said sharply. "I want you to make Lily a cup of tea and get me a vial of Draught of Peace. Also, get me mint sprigs, wormwood, shrivelfig, porcupine quills, castor beans, and maybe some peppermint. Bring them to the dungeons. Also, get started on Felix Felicis, like I told you. Right? And you will _not _utter a word to anyone; be it my mother, Regulus, or Voldemort himself. Clear?"

"Yes, Master." He said before disappearing with a crack.

"Draught of Peace, I get. But why are you brewing Euphoria?"

"It's quick and easy? Besides, it's supposed to be an excellent cure for hysterics. Call it extra credit." I said, in a sudden brainwave. "I'll meet you back here in, let's say, an hour? Can you keep her sane until then?"

He shot me a look, and I wheeled and sprinted for the dungeons.

* * *

><p>"Professor Slughorn?" I knocked.<p>

"Sirius Black? Come in, come in, m'boy." He said, exuberant as always.

"I was wondering, sir, if I could use the class for a little while."

"But of course." He said jovially. "Why, may I know?" He asked, not particularly curious, it seemed.

"Extra credit, sir. I want to brew Euphoria. Will that count, sir?"

"It isn't very easy, Sirius. You do know that?" He asked, and I nodded. "Well, I shall be back in an hour to judge it. Do remember that you are not alone, Sirius." He chuckled once, before letting me into one of the classes.

The faint smell of crushed sopophorous bean and fluxweed was spreading through the room slowly. A thin veil of grayish mist covered the potion brewer. I saw rose thorns acting as fuel under the cauldron. There was only one potion I knew that required such meticulous measures to reach perfection.

"Veritaserum?" I asked, peering through the haze, interested despite my mission.

Receiving no response, I got to work on my own potion. "Kreacher!" I said, and with a crack that didn't get any less startling with time, he appeared.

"Master called Kreacher?" He said, keeping his eyes down.

"Yes. You have the ingredients I require?" I asked.

He began to neatly separate and pile the ingredients. When he was done, he asked me if I required anything else.

"Yes. Did you give Lily her tea?" I inquired.

"Yes, Master. Kreacher put lemon in it when the mudblood girl asks him to."

"Don't call her that." I frowned. "That's an order. Did you get my vial of Draught of Peace?"

"Here it is, Master." He said, handing me a vial of turquoise liquid."

Again, he asked if I needed anything else.

"Nothing for now, thanks." I said. I actually did like the little guy when his mouth was closed.

He disappeared with another loud crack. I pocketed the vial and lit a fire under the cauldron half full of water. I would need quite a bit. As the water boiled, I began the painstaking job of cutting the castor beans. Nasty, slippery little things, they were. I should've asked Kreacher to do it for me.

I decided, _to hell with it. _I picked up my wand – Mahogany, unnaturally long at almost 14 inches with (according to Mr. Ollivander, _how very curious_ that _this _particular wand would pick me) a peacock feather core – and flicked it at the beans. They began to cut themselves quite a bit neater than I would have. I dropped in the sliced shrivelfig slowly, piece by piece. I noticed that the slight haze had cleared, making it easier for me to brew.

"Have you got any mint?" the other brewer asked me.

"Bianca?" I said, surprised. "Um, sure. Here." I floated some of the mint over to her.

"Thanks." She said curtly. Dropping in the porcupine quills, I watched my potion turn bright yellow.

"Hey, Bianca?"

"Yeah?" She said, looking my way, with what looked like tears in her eyes.

"You _do _know that I suck at apologies?"

"Yes. I do." She said.

"Well, so…" I looked at her hopefully. Her face was stony. "Well, I'm really sorry, Bianca. I didn't mean it."

She was mad at me. I actually wasn't sure why, but she _was _mad at me, and I'd found out a long time ago that it was best to simply apologize, no matter what you did (or didn't do.)

"Sorry for what, Sirius?" She asked, her voice dripping sugar.

I was stumped. Of course I had been dumb enough to underestimate her, and now look where I ended up! Was I _supposed _to tell her that I didn't know _why _she was mad at me?

"Uh, I…er, well – I was going to –"

"Enough, Sirius!" She said, sighing exasperatedly. "I've had enough of your lies. You didn't do anything wrong! _I did! _So take your remorse and shove it!" She said, her voice breaking. "Do you _know _what Lily's going through? Do you? That, and I feel like a selfish bitch because I feel bad for the petty things that have happened to me, but I can't stop feeling this way!"

"What way, Bianca? Tell me what's wrong, please!" I said, honest-to-goodness confused.

"Sirius, please don't make me say it. I can't take this. I just cannot. Please, Sirius. Please." I saw a glistening tear slide down her cheek.

The smell of peppermint rose up to greet me, and I knew the Euphoria was done. I thanked my lucky stars that I had made more than required. I scooped up a vial full, and walked over to Bianca.

"Bianca, please. Hear me out. I _don't_ know why you're angry, and I won't pry if you don't want to share, but I'll be there for you. I'll be your best friend, Bianca. Please." I said, offering her the Euphoria. I saw her cringe.

"So help me, Sirius, if you made it wrong and I end up bouncing off the walls…" She left her threat unfinished as she sniffled, and knocked the Euphoria back like a shot.

Instantly, a smile lit up her face. "Thanks, Sirius." She sighed, grabbing onto my collar and almost melting into my shirt.

I felt the remnants of her tears on my shirt, and simply waited for her to move. I _did _occasionally stroke her hair.

"Thanks, Sirius. I'm not sad anymore." She said, grinning at me.

"Good." I said, not quite able to fake a perfect smile. Two hysterical girls in one night were really draining. "Let's go and give this stuff to Lily." I said, conjuring up a bottle.

So, I'd done something wrong which would most probably make sure that Bianca wouldn't want to see me. If she didn't want to see me, and I made myself disappear, McGonagall would have my hide. I sighed.

Slughorn decided that _then _was the perfect time to burst through the door.

"Children!" He boomed. "I take it you are both finished?"

"Yes, sir." We replied in unison.

"Good, good." He said, walking over to Bianca's potion. "Hmm…quite good, Miss Hughes, but maybe you stirred a bit too long? It's a little colored, is it not? Veritaserum is…?"

"Supposed to be colorless and odorless." She filled in.

"Quite true, but I'll take it. Nine marks, Miss Hughes. You may go." He said.

She began to gather her stuff, stalling. Waiting for me, I realized. I really did love Euphoria. It was like watered-down Felix Felicis.

"Sirius, m'boy." He said. "Hmm, very nice, very nice. Peppermint? Is that not Lily's trademark?" He asked sniffing the air.

"She _did _tell me to add that, sir."

"Very well. Ten, Mr. Black. You are excused." He smiled genially.

"May I take a bottleful, sir?" I asked as respectfully as possible.

"But of course, my boy." He said as he walked out.

I quickly filled the bottle and pocketed it.

* * *

><p>"Whizzing Frisbee." Bianca said, smiling widely.<p>

"What's has you in such a good mood?" The Fat Lady asked, but opened unwillingly.

We slipped in, and James was still holding Lily close, as violent shudders wracked through her body. He looked up as we entered.

"Does it work?" He asked me quietly.

"Exhibit A." I said, pointing at Bianca. She smacked my arm.

"Ouch!" I said, frowning at her. "Of course it works." I said in his direction.

"Peace first? And then Euphoria?"

"That's the order it said in the leaflet." I said in referral to one of the thousand St. Mungo's leaflets I read when I was younger and still lived with my parents.

"Kreacher!" I called again. There was a crack in the air.

"Yes, master?"

"More tea?" I said, sounding more like a question.

"Yes, master." He said, bowing.

He was back in under a minute. I added a few drops of the Draught of Peace and handed it to James, who fed it to her like she was a little child.

The effect was instantaneous. She calmed down enough to sit by herself, though her hands were still wrapped around her knees.

I put the Euphoria in the empty mug and handed it back to her.

She drank that too, and I thanked Merlin when it seemed to work. Though she was still quiet (it took more than Euphoria to heal such great hurt, or so I had been told), she seemed slightly happier. I sighed in relief.

The common room door swung open to reveal McGonagall standing in the doorway, not wearing her usual tight-lipped long-suffering expression. In its place was the ghost of a smile.

"Mr. Black? Professor Dumbledore would like to see you."

"Me, Professor?"

"Yes, you, Black." She snapped.

"But I didn't do anything this time!" I said, sighing sadly. She wouldn't believe me anyway.

* * *

><p>"Minerva?" I said as sweetly as possible.<p>

"Professor. McGonagall." She said through gritted teeth. She hated when I had an effect on her, irrelevant to whether or not it was to make her smile.

"Whichever you prefer, _Minerva_." I repeated, sweeter than before. "What have I done?"

"Why would you think that?" She asked with a smirk. An odd expression on her usually severe face.

"Everyone's angry with me today. Why not add you and Professor Dumbledore to the list?"

"Professor Dumbledore has always said that you shouldn't count your OWLs before you receive them. Some patience, Black." She said.

We walked quietly until the ugly gargoyle. "EarwaxFlavoredBertieBott'sEveryFlavorJellyBean." I said, sniggering. Whatever you said about the man, Dumbledore most certainly had style.

I contemplated how much _more _detention I could get into as I climbed up the stairs. The door was slightly open, but still, I knocked.

"Come in, Mr. Black." Dumbledore said softly.

"Sit." He pointed me to a chair.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes." He didn't say anything else.

As I waited for him to speak, I unconsciously stroked Fawkes' feathers. I _had _to get myself a phoenix. Finally, I decided to break the silence.

"Why, sir?"

"You don't need extra credit, Mr. Black." He said, his eyes twinkling.

"No, sir."

"And you _did _brew Euphoria for that purpose, did you not?"

"Erm…" I bit my tongue and told the truth. "No, sir."

"I assume you did it for Lily Evans?"

"Yes, sir."

"Sad business, that. Now, I take it you know the consequences of a wrongly brewed Elixir to Induce Euphoria?"

"Yes, sir."

"You should have gone to Professor McGonagall."

I felt a little bit stupid. He was right. We should have.

"Yes, sir." I said, looking down. Dumbledore had a way of making me feel like a child. A very different one from the one I was at Grimmauld Place, but a child nonetheless.

"Very well. Since there is no harm done, we will speak of this no more."

"Thank you, sir." I said, sighing in relief.

"Now, there is one more thing I would like to talk to you about."

"Sir?"

"You're uncle Alphard passed away last night, Sirius."

I looked away from his face. I had like Uncle Alphard. He was quite nice.

"This is his will." He said, handing me a roll of parchment. I scanned it quickly, and caught the gist of it.

"He left me…all his gold?"

"Yes. It seems so."

"Wow."

"My congratulations, Mr. Black, but it seems that your aunt, Bellatrix Black's mother, is not satisfied. They plan to contest it. If you would like, I could speak to the goblins as Gringotts. Of course, you could do it yourself, if you prefer."

"No sir. If you would do it, it would be a great relief to me." I said quietly.

"So be it. Do you plan to attend the funeral, Sirius?"

"No, sir. I don't want to kill anyone." I added quietly.

"Yes. No use wasting your talent in Azkaban." He chuckled. "Chocolate Frog?" He offered, pointing to a pile on the edge of his table.

"Thanks, sir."

I took one, and made my way to the door. I flipped the card around - Devlin Whitehorn, founder of the new broom company, Nimbus. Maybe I could get myself one of those with Uncle Alphard's money. Biting the head off, I contemplated what this meant. Well, I could buy myself a – rotorbike? Was that it? Wonderful looking muggle contraptions. I was sure I could enchant it to fly. I could also buy myself a house. I really did like Potter Manor, but I needed a place to call home.

Entertaining such pleasant thoughts, I made my way back to the common room. So in the end, the day had gone quite well.

**Hey everyone! I wanted to apologize for not updating sooner. I've been a bit busy. My birthday's coming up later this month, and I'm getting married in March! Busy, busy, busy. So, sorry, really. I'll try to be better about it. As usual, rate, review, recommend. **

**Rose. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone! I want to thank: Lestri, angelloverkk, and Harry's Little Sister. All those previously mentioned (it takes some time to type it all out), thanks you guys. I love you all. **

**Second thing, I'm looking to change the name of this fic; now that it's starting to get a little deep, I'm thinking of changing the name. **

**What says you?**

**Playlist: My Wish Comes True (It's from an Indian movie – Kisna)**

**Color Outside The Lines – Hedley **

**Arioso – Bach **

"_Isn't this the part where you ask me out?" _

"Who are you writing to, Bianca?" Peter squeaked.

"None of your business, Peter." She growled. She'd been writing an incredibly long letter. It seemed obvious that it was to Bradley.

She was also in a very, very bad mood. Brad had replied to her last letter in only about a hundred words, and though we all tried explaining that we were certain it was because he was busy and not ignoring her, she was of no mind to listen.

Only when she signed her name at the bottom with a flourish did a smile grace her face again. She seemed to have gotten rid of all her anger on that parchment

* * *

><p>Late September, and it was like the entire school was singing. Actually, I was fairly certain I heard one of the walls sing once or twice. The castle celebrated the coming of the bleak season.<p>

It seemed like almost all the teachers were tired of harping at us about how _NEWT year is the most important for students _and _Take at least this one thing seriously (Black)_, because it was implied that I was the subject of the comment. They didn't even feel the need to use my name. Bianca found it incredibly funny.

We were on our way to Hogsmeade when I was mulling over these thoughts, and I was fairly certain Peter had been calling my name for the last ten minutes. Peter, Bianca and I were out in the crisp fall air, making our way to the Three Broomsticks, _alone_. Because Remus had gone with Sienna and James and Lily were out together. We had spent some time grumbling, when Bianca broke in, saying,

"We might be better off, you know? Imagine if we were to be walking with the new couple." She finished with a grin. I shuddered at the thought. Not that I wasn't happy that James finally got the _right _girl, but there was a limit to how much time you could spend among the lovesick. I'd heard that it was contagious.

Alyssa walked by with a group of girls, and I smiled at her. Of course, the sillier girls fell over themselves giggling, but she waved and smiled back.

"Woah, Sirius. That's some power you've got there." Peter giggled, not unlike the girls who had just walked by. I began to say so, but Bianca broke in with a snicker.

I turned to her for support, but she had already sided with Peter. "Yeah, Black. Even _those _girls fall over themselves for you. It's so…cute!" She mocked the younger girls, clutching Peter's arm. It was an accurate, if a little cruel, imitation.

"Yeah, and…and," Peter struggled to make a funny. "_Black's got a girlfriend!" _he began in a monotonous sing-song.

"Bugger off, Wormtail. I'm not _into _incest. She's from the Mendelson family, and something like my second cousin, twice removed."

"Yeah?" Bianca piped up, interested. "So I'm _not _going to find her in the bathroom, crying in a few weeks?"

"I suppose you might –" I began what was going to be a witty comeback, but got cut off by Peter.

"See! He doesn't deny it!" He screamed, laughing hysterically. "_Black's got a girlfriend, the poor little doll. She doesn't realize that she's in for it with a gitty troll!" _Peter finished, looking triumphant.

"Um, Peter?" Bianca tapped his shoulder. "Doll and troll don't rhyme. And gitty isn't a word." She said, deflating him instantaneously. I laughed, giving Peter a little shove.

"Better luck next time, mate." I grinned; Peter's nose twitched as he grumbled. "And I'm _not _with her."

The quietness that fell over us did not last long; we soon reached the overflowing storefronts, voices babbling like a river. A shriek, followed by a laugh. Low tones of a secret. Fourth-years jumped on fallen red leaves. Two girls sat quietly by the fence of the Shrieking Shack, talking. Another sat a few paces away, with what looked like a drawing book in lap, sketching leisurely, a small smile on her face.

It felt good to just absorb all the noise, to simply _be _a part of the tide of students, the currents pulling in different directions, all chattering excitedly.

My moment of depth was shattered by a particularly chilly breeze. All three of us paused to pull our jackets closer to ourselves and bent our heads as we walked quickly towards the Three Broomsticks.

"I hate you." The first words that popped out of my mouth were less impressive when my teeth were chattering, but they surprised a few people sitting at the surrounding tables nonetheless when they saw who the words were directed at.

James laughed, and pulled up a chair. "Sit, sit. And then tell me, dear Padfoot, what exactly I have done to induce your fearsome rage and to deserve your terrible hatred." He finished with a grin.

"You're _warm._" I snarled, grinning.

"Padfoot, Padfoot, Padfoot. I'm not _just _warm. That's Wormtail for you. I'm positively _piping hot!_"

"Hey!" Wormtail protested, if a little late.

"Shut up." I said after the laughter subsided. "We've," I pointed to Bianca, Peter, and myself, "Just walked through a terribly chilly morning to see you and Evans huddled up and warm."

"_I_ don't mind." Bianca said. I looked at her, the shock of her betrayal painting my face a bright crimson.

"You…you!" I said, unable to insult her, even when she needed to hear it.

The silence that followed was disconcerting. James pulled in a shocked gasp. "Bianca, we bow down to you. You have silenced Sirius Black the unsilence-able!" And then, no joke, they began to dance around her stopping occasionally to bow down.

"Bianca Hughes, high priestess of Hogwarts!" Lily cheered.

"Madam Rosemerta?" I called. "Please tell me you have a camera. Please capture this and then give me a copy. _This _is going on _all _of your Christmas cards, I swear."

As it was, a flash and some purple smoke later, the scene _did _get immortalized. Laughing, James, Lily, and Peter sat down. Remus and Sienna chose that moment to walk in.

"What's so funny?" Sienna asked, her accent pronounced. It happened every time she came back from Spain. Her sister was really far better at concealing her accent. Sierra could have pulled off being British if it wasn't for her obviously Spanish features. She was an absolute bombshell, of course, but in a very different way from the regular English girls.

"Well," Lily began, a wide grin on her face, "Bianca managed to silence Sirius, so we've named her High Priestess of Hogwarts."

"Sirius silenced?" Remus asked, impressed.

"Madam Rosemerta's caught their crazy dance on camera. I've promised it's going on their Christmas Cards." I said darkly.

"Well, Sirius. I'm just glad you've finally met your match." At his words, for some unfathomable reason, Bianca turned bright red.

"It seems like the entire Hughes clan can do that to me." I muttered.

Six sets of questioning eyes bore into me.

Chuckling quietly, I told them of the last time I'd been in here; of Madam Rosemerta's and Brad's misunderstanding, carefully editing out the part about Diggory.

"Well, I, for one, find it unsurprising." Sienna said. "Just _look _at the way they behave. Not necessarily by choice, but they are together _all _the time."

There were murmured agreements from all around the table.

After this, everything was mostly idle banter, up until James and Lily decided the table was too crowded for them. Remus and Sienna followed quickly after, with Peter tagging along behind them. I pitied him for it. No matter how quiet he seemed, how perfectly he followed the rules, there was no denying it – when he was emotionally involved in something, something that caused _certain _physical reactions, he was prone to forgetting he had an audience. Poor, poor Peter.

We stayed back because we felt like drinking some more. Madam Rosemerta – bless her soul – called all our drinks on the house as an apology for embarrassing me last time. You never did look a gift horse in the mouth, though, so we took it, drinking ourselves into merry oblivion.

"Come on, let me show you my little place." I said to Bianca when she looked dangerously wobbly. She laughed at the lewd cliché.

As it was, though, she was walking fairly okay – Irish cliché. I didn't miss the opportunity to insert a joke about it. Our tête-à-tête touched what felt like every topic under the sun on the way back to Hogwarts.

"I don't know what I'd do, you know?" She said quietly, out of the blue. It took me a minute to understand what she was talking about. "He's really the only family I have. Now that he's getting married – and don't get me wrong, I really do like Eliza – he's going to be devoted to _her_, and _then _who do I have, Sirius?"

"You'll have me – all of us would be here for you, Bianca." I said. I had a moment of confusion there, a strange emotion bombarded a thousand mental pictures at me. I felt something rushing in my chest, but then I ignored it, because she said something that stopped my heart for a minute.

"You don't get it, Sirius. It's not just that I'd get lonely. I can deal. But if it meant protecting Brad, now that he's given up magic, I'd torture or be tortured; kill or be killed. I know it sounds sick, but he's done too much for me to not repay it to him. I'd hate every minute of it, but if it meant protecting Brad, I'd join forces with Voldemort himself."

I tried not to think about it. I couldn't imagine doing it for anyone; except maybe for the Order as an undercover thing.

"Then we just have to make sure that doesn't happen, don't we?" I asked, walking just a tiny bit closer to her.

"Where are you taking me?" Bianca asked as we began to climb yet another set of stairs.

"Hold on, you'll see." I said to her. I felt around for the little bump on the middle stair and gave it a flick. Immediately, the upper half of the stairs twisted violently and locked in place to what seemed like a stone wall.

"Run!" I told her, counting down. The stair only stayed in that place for about twenty seconds. I grabbed her hand and tore up the stair case.

"Incendio!" I pointed my wand at the stone brick with a straight line down the center. "Glacios!" I said in quick succession, and the flame froze.

And much like the Diagon Alley wall, the bricks began to shift to accommodate a Bianca sized hole. Pushing her through quickly, I followed. Just in time, too. I felt the stair case shift while my back leg was still on it.

And there it was, my little haven. It was a nice place, draped in silvers and violets, with rich reds coating the floor in a carpet thick enough to be a mattress. I didn't know who made it, but it was very, very convenient. Over the years, I had put the red carpet in, the dashes of silver. I'd thrown in gray cushions and stashed a cupboard full of good alcohol and fancy French food. Of course, the house elves must know about it, because each time I went up there, it would be clean with fresh food stacked in the little mahogany cupboard.

"This is the most adorable place ever!" Bianca exclaimed, throwing herself on the biggest cushion.

"I try my best." I said, grinning. And then she grabbed on to my hand and pulled me down, and the conversation began to flow again.

The banter was now resting along the topic of Quidditch.

"You know, Sirius, I think you'd make a really good Beater. Why do you play Keeper anyway?"

"No, I'm really much more about the defense of it. I'm a better Keeper than Beater."

"Bull. No offense, Black, but you're not more than decent at Keeper. Aiden McCarthy is actually a better keeper than you are."

I choked on my butterbeer. "The Hufflepuff?" I asked, incredulous.

"Oh, don't give me that look. And yes, he _is _better than you are. He has a knack for it. You are just…I don't know, generic."

"Well, that's insulting." I said, trying to hold on to my scowl.

"No, but seriously, I want to know…and don't make fun of me because I _know _I'm right this time."

I nodded, gesturing that she should go on.

"Why are you so afraid of making decisions?" She asked, point blank. I stared at her. _What the…_

I struggled with words, because I truly did want to answer her, but I didn't know how. I wasn't sure exactly _what _she was asking. Well, no, that was a lie. I knew the _what, _I just didn't know _how _to answer. I also wanted to know how she pulled that one. It took James two years, and that was because I was a kid. I didn't know to hide my feelings any better.

A tribute to her insight, that was all, I promised myself.

"I…I don't know how to begin." I confessed.

"Use a metaphor?" She said, relentless. She _really _wanted to know. I let out a gusty breath, and tried. This time, the words did come.

"Look at it this way, Bianca. If I look back at my life right now…or, better yet, let's say my life is one giant notebook with unruled sheets."

"A drawing notebook. With good quality parchment." She corrected gently. She always knew when I needed to be handled with care and when to change the topic or make a joke. I was _not _predictable, as far as I knew, so how did she read me the way she did? Was it because we were both messed up on the same level? I reviewed all I knew.

FACT: I was a little off in the head.

FACT: Bianca read me like a book without much effort.

FACT: It was something like empathy that drove her.

FACT: You have to be similar, or have a similar past, to feel empathy. So,

ASSERTION: Bianca was a little off in the head, as well.

It was no wonder I did well in Arithmancy. Lily had told me that the muggle equivalent, math, included plenty of proofs, just like Arithmancy, in fact. Well, if I proved things dealing with emotions with such casual ease (if I do say so myself) that it could almost be called graceful, well, I repeat: It was no wonder I did well in Arithmancy.

I had a decision to make _now_. I could bullshit her, or I could tell the truth. Or a part of it, at least. If I began to talk, I would tell her everything that her question didn't ask for, but she wanted to know. Her hand was lying close to mine, and so without a second of more thought, I caught her smaller hand between both of my own. Breathing in, I began.

"Alright, let's say we look back at my life like a drawing notebook _with good quality parchment_, and then even if there weren't enough words, I could get a box of crayons and clearly draw lines where which kinds of colors need to be. There are fun yellows, silver freedom, pastel blues are happy, calm greens, angry, pulsating reds, moments of insight are a deep blue, and some of the most important times of my life are purple, and they're all edged with charcoal gray pain, and a thin thread of angry red weaves through all that gray. I can smudge a little here and there, Bianca, blur the lines so that one emotion blends into the next, as if they were the same. But you have to realize this, I have _always _had my life cut out for me. I've always filled in colors _after _things happened."

I realized that I sounded bratty. I could not say that my life had been harsh, just a little difficult for me. I knew I had been privileged; money did that to you, and that there were people out there who had it worse than me. But even then, there were moments of pain so intense that it had seemed difficult to draw in a breath. But then again, I thought bitterly, _they _have _been the moments that taught me how to hide my emotions a little. They were the moments that cultivated the part of me that can keep my pain to myself. _

"When I was younger, I had to be the big brother and take care that Regulus turned out okay. That was a pastel blue box. The inside was sometimes filled in with yellow. And then, sometimes the boxes would be black and red, when my father was upset. When my mother sided with him, it was more red, and this time it was more the color of blood. There was charcoal, too. It was painful. When I came to Hogwarts, there was a huge, shimmering box of pastel blue. Going home was a darker gray every time. Then the silver last summer. It's always been these colored boxes with rounded edges. Never have I once colored outside the lines, though. I don't even know how, Bianca. Last summer, when I left home, well, that was my _first _decision that I made on my own, and look where I am now. That was my first silver box. That was the first box I colored before, rather than after. I bunk with James, and I'm just lucky that Mr. and Mrs. Potter like me. It was reckless of me, but I got lucky. It's always been _luck, _Bianca. And now, I have seven months to decide just _what _I want to do with my life. I don't have a goal, Bianca. I don't have any ambition. I suppose you could say that I'm spoiled."

"I don't think you're spoiled, Sirius. I think you're underestimating yourself. Many people would break down under less pressure. But you _did _say it yourself, you have about seven months to decide what you want to do. You might want to look into that seriously." And then her bright blue eyes burned. "And then there's the other thing I need you to be decisive about."

I had a feeling I knew where this was going. She took a deep breath and then let it out, her words having abandoned her. She tried again, keeping it short. "Sirius, I need to know where _we _are. You need to stop playing games with me. Here's the thing, Sirius. I want to know, what do you want to be? Do you want to be my friend, fill in the spot of my brother? What am I to you, Sirius?"

"I get it." I told her. She looked at me resolutely, as though she wouldn't let go without an answer. And she was famous for her stubborn self.

And since we were doing confessions, I decided to come out with it. The last time I had tried to work it off, it had resulted in disastrous conditions, and one _very _pissed Willow Chester. Abandoning all pretenses, I came out with it, for once, my voice strong – and I had just made a decision.

"Bianca. I'm very clear on what I want." I took a deep breath to steady myself. "I want _you_. You're one of the most special things in my life, and that's saying a lot. You made it in really fast, you know that? Nobody has _ever _been able to burrow into our circle, or into my head, as quickly as you did. I really like you, Bianca, and I suppose it was cowardly of me to wait for you to acknowledge what you might have felt." I cracked a grin. "Now that I've made up my mind, Galway Girl, I'll wait for you to decide. I _will _wait, Bianca, if that's what you want."

In my mind, this moment was being filled with violet and silver.

"Thanks, dog."

"For?"

"Acknowledging it. And I think I might more than like you. But you knew that, didn't you? I've liked you, I think, since the moment you offered me that eclair."

We sat on the stone floor for a while, lost in our own thoughts. I voiced my most worrying concern.

"So where does that leave us now?"

"Isn't this the part where you ask me out?" She winked at me.

**Link to My Wish Comes true:** (slash) watch? v=WffaYmdS-yI)

**Did anybody notice the tiniest bit of foreshadowing in the earlier part of the chapter? It surfaced in the most important part. **

**Also, thank **_**I Am A Witch Really **_**for this chapter. It was her latest chapter that motivated me to put this up today. **


	12. Chapter 12

**This one goes out to Gilisette, graciegirl1000, xbamsod, Hufflepuff Hex, and ClaireWhitlock, plus all of those previously mentioned. You're all pretty awesome, you know that?**

**As you might have noticed, I **_**did **_**change the name. The fic is now called **_**Breaking Free, Colors in Hand **_**in reference to the last chapter. Do you like it? Do you **_**not **_**like it? Why or why not?**

**Playlist: In Noctem**

** Hesitate – Steve Moakler**

** Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Jason Castro**

October was coming to an end, Halloween right on us. My time was spent lazily, slow in its gentle drift. As it was, I _did _ask Bianca out that day, and a week later, we had gone to Hogsmeade via the Honeydukes cellar. We'd strolled down the deserted lanes well after curfew, walked the cobbled streets, talking quietly. There was no hurry, nothing rushing us, nothing waiting for us until the next morning. We climbed up a mountain of sorts, just to see what was there. And stumbled upon a little cave.

It wasn't perfect, by any means, but it was our little place, we decided. I cleaned it up as best as I could, ridding the perfectly round, dark bubble of dirt and cobwebs, and everything else living inside it. Bianca lit up the place with candles she transfigured out of pencils.

I'd asked her about it, of course. Her answer, though not normal, had not surprised me once I'd heard it.

"It's a thing Brad and I do. Bradley honestly _enjoys _living like a muggle, and from the time I was thirteen, he's been trying to convince me that I should give it a shot. He sends me muggle objects sometimes, things he likes. Sometimes, he finds depth in trivial things and he'd share them with me. Last year, when I was at St. Peters, I received a bunch of pencils, set up like a bouquet. Brad _loves _pencils, I honestly don't know why, though he's tried to explain it to me. He's sent me so many that they form a four tier blanket on the bottom of my trunk."

_Another sibling thing_, I thought to myself. It was the kind of thing that I wish Regulus and I could have had. Life was so much simpler without Voldemort, I thought grimly.

And after that, we got to decorating the desolate little sphere, with – what else? – A thick red carpet and cushions (mine never seemed the perfect size or shape, but the coloring was excellent, if I did so myself) of various colors. Quite often Bianca would change the color of some of my cushions because 'they didn't match' the rest of the cave. It was such a feminine thing to say, that I laughed out loud. Of course, this offended Bianca to no end, and we ended up having a massive pillow – cushion? – fight, right there in the middle of the softly lit cave.

To leave her mark, Bianca burned her initials, B.L.H, into one of the corners in an elegant cursive, where it was hidden. Curious again, I asked her why she didn't leave her signature somewhere more conspicuous, claiming the place to herself.

She responded, "This way, _we _know that this is our little orb, it's our little secret. If anybody else _does _reach this place by mistake, they'll hopefully just leave, knowing that this place is taken. But openly _scribbling _my initials somewhere, just to mark my territory; it feels more flaunting, than truly intimate. Can you understand that?" She asked, and I nodded.

"One more." I said to her.

She gestured that I should go on.

"What does the L stand for?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "No way am I telling you that, Sirius. My initials clash horribly. Honestly, B – L – H? What were my parents thinking?"

"Oh, you're alright, Bianca. Think of me! Mine are S.O.B." She raised an eyebrow. "Sirius _Orion _Black. I try my hardest not to expand that in the way it's commonly used today."

"What?" She said, confused for a bit.

"You're a clever girl, you'll figure it out." I muttered, taking her hand.

"Oh. _Oh!" _She giggled. "Son-of-a-bitch?"

I grimaced.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. It slipped out." She said, turning my face towards her own, her fingers soft on my jaw.

"Don't worry about it, Celtic Thunder. I was only reacting because of how close you got. I don't really like to call my mother names, but on my worse days, it does come out. Besides, you said it yourself, I share quite a few personality traits with man's best friend. I don't mind." I told her firmly.

"If you say so, Briton. But be careful. If I find the slightest hint of you having been offended, I will shove a pound of chocolate down your throat. You know I don't like it if people don't come out and tell me exactly how they feel. Of course, you were an exception. _Were _being the operative word here. _Once. _Don't forget, Black. You can only make a mistake once."

"Yes, ma'am." I snapped a military salute at her, and she dissolved into a fit of giggles.

When we stepped out – about three in the morning – the entire place looked happier than when we had found it. One last look at the bright, happy place; a last glance at the initials burned in the corner, was all I allowed myself before I extinguished the candles. In a moment of prophesying, I realized that this place would come to be our little haven, where no one, not even house elves, could intrude. The niche in the castle was fun, too, to think, to dream, to _be_, but _this. _This was something truly special. Not a place to be alone, but a place to be together.

"Let's name it." Bianca said, her face lit up like a billboard at the sudden new idea. I was in the process of growing an orchid vine across the edge.

"Orchideous." I muttered, dragging my wand in a diagonal line, pulling the vine out of the end of my wand.  
>"Crescere Rosa." An incantation we'd found, James and I. It was fairly easy to <em>create <em>charms and jinxes, as long as you got the right pronunciation of the Latin involved. Wild roses began to grow uncontrollably, highlighting the orchids.

"Facere Flavus." She said, touching one of the roses. Instantly, the entire vine changed, and the flowers were all bright yellow. It must be a female thing, decorating. The yellow roses accentuated the orchids far better, I acknowledged.

In a stroke of genius, Bianca began to enchant the lip of the cave to grow more vines – in complementary colors, of course – hiding the place a little more. She refused to put a charm, hex, or jinx on it. I thought I knew why she refused to magick it, but I refrained from voicing my question.

"Limen Flores." She decided.

"What?"

"Let's call the place, Limen Flores."

"Home of Flowers?" I asked, translating with difficulty. I hadn't been the best at Latin while I'd been learning it. I was okay at it, but not great. I ran over the translation in my head. It was obvious, but fitting. It sounded better in Latin, though.

"Threshold of Flowers." She corrected. Well, that made it sound more grandiose, even in plain English.

"Limen Flores." I let the words slide over my tongue. A place to call my own. I smiled. "Limen Flores it is."

* * *

><p>When we reached the castle, it was about four in the morning. Tired, but extremely happy, I trudged up to the dormitory. I fell into my bed, just barely managing to take off my shoes and jacket, and miraculously, my t-shirt as well.<p>

I had only just entered the realm of a deep sleep, when I was woken up by a persistent tapping to the side of my head.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" A feminine voice chanted. I opened one bleary eye, and saw a curtain of dark hair in front of my face.

"Bianca?" I checked my watch. I had been asleep for about ten minutes.

"I kept you all night long, so I expect I'm first."

"First for what?" I asked, still groggy.

"Happy birthday, Sirius!" She sang. "First for _that_." She said, and handed me a pouch.

"It wasn't a secret, really, but what good is a gift if it isn't a surprise?" She said, referring to the day we'd gone to Hogsmeade.

"Thanks." I grinned at her, weighing the pouch in my hands.

"Always. Do you want to open it now?" She asked eagerly.

"Do you want me to open it now?" I returned.

"Of course I do, fool! Open it!" She said, poking my bare chest. Though she intended for it to be painful, it had a very different effect on me. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep if I tried after that.

"Look what you did!" I said, pointing to my chest. "You've actually given me a mark!" I stared at the angry-looking red mark on the right side of my chest. I swallowed a volley of laughs as her face turned bright red.

I couldn't help but to let one escape, though. Calling me on it, she said, "Shut up and open it, Sirius."

Trailing her fingers over the fading red mark over and over again, she gazed expectantly at me, waiting for me to open the present. As it turned out, I was a little distracted by her fingers splayed over my chest…and I forgot about the present in my hand, just staring at the hand that was melting my internal organs slowly.

She flicked my ear suddenly. "Open it!"

Chuckling at her petulant tone, I pulled at the cord and shook out the contents of the bag.

One might argue that the gift would have been better had _I _presented it to her, but I'll never truly be able to explain how much I appreciated that she understood me the way she did.

A silver band had fallen out of the pouch, one that reminded me distinctly of the one that Bianca's brother wore around his finger. But while his had brilliant emeralds in it, mine had blood red rubies, flattened so they looked like a part of the silver itself.

"It's in the family. Our great grandma told us to give it to someone we really cared about." There was something she was editing, but I let it go. I twirled the ring between my fingers and noticed an inscription. "L'a_rgento é per la libertá, e il rosso è per l'amore." _

"My family crest is in French, love. I only know French and Latin."

"Well half my family is Italian. I love the language and the people. I love the culture. And so Italian it had to be for you."

"So what does it say?"

"Something I've been meaning to tell you for a very long time, but now's not the time for you to hear it."

I let it go and grinned. "Thanks, Bianca." And just to prove that Padfoot was still there, over Sappy Sirius who'd made a surprise entrance, I kissed her.

It was not a magical, brilliant, moving kiss. It was not a first kiss. It was not tender. It was not full of affection. What it _was _was a flirty, very happy kiss. I'd actually expected a little shock, maybe a little resistance from her – her being the spitfire she was. What I _did not expect _was for her to grab a hold of my shoulders to pull herself closer to me.

Without breaking contact, she swung up from beside me to straddle my lap. Her lips automatically shaped themselves around my own. When she broke away to take a breath, I caught her mouth open. Groaning, she melted back onto my form so that her chest was flush with mine. Of course, this was making me very aware of my bare-chested-ness. Especially when Bianca trailed her hand down my chest for support.

"You do know that this is very, very inappropriate?" She asked me. "I'm a very good girl, you know. I never break rules." She ran a hand through my hair. "And I certainly never sneak into boys' dormitories in the middle of the night. What are you doing to me, Sirius Black? I'm usually a _very _good girl."

I groaned. "Please stop saying that, Bianca. You're putting images in my mind that have no business being there, especially not when you're sitting right on top of me."

It was only when she grinned that I realized that she was doing it on purpose.

The door flung of the dormitory flung open with a bang.

"Oi!" James interrupted. "Banging later, presents first." He said unabashedly. How did I not notice he wasn't in his bed?

"Bet you forget your own rules when it comes to a certain girl name after a flower." I winked.

"Oh, sod off. Do you want to see what we've given you, or not?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I told him. I pulled a t-shirt over my head and followed James and Bianca.

"Mate, that's the lady's prerogative." He laughed.

While Bianca looked greatly confused, James and I both doubled over laughing.

"Happy birthday, man. We have now begun the celebration of the beginning of your eighteenth year appropriately, with a dirty joke."

"Thanks so much, Prongs." I pushed him down the stairs. Lily, along with the Spanish sisters stood beside Remus and Peter, all huddled around a small pile of presents.

"Happy birthday, Sirius!" Lily threw her arms around me. "I hate the fact that you're older than me. I should be the pampered one, and yet, you somehow snagged my right." She screwed up her nose.

"Thanks, LilyPotter." I grinned at her. She swatted my shoulder.

"Here. Open it." She threw me a wrapped present. I ripped the cover off, and saw that her present was a folded blanket in the usual Gryffindor colors. The words _Marauder with the largest head, and possibly heart _were stamped in gleaming gold across it.

"Lily, I'm starting to think you actually like me!" She laughed.

"Ours next." Said Sienna.

"Yes, I do need to get back to the Ravenclaw dorm, you know?"

Their present to me was a muggle camera.

"Oh, thank you, girls! I've been wanting one of these!" I exclaimed. We'd been studying cameras in muggle studies, and I found that I was intrigued by the idea. I immediately took a candid picture of the entire group.

"Anytime." Sierra winked at me before departing for her own dorm.

"Okay, Sirius, are you ready for the most epic gift ever? It's from all three of us." James told me, pointing towards himself, Remus, and Peter.

They separated, and I was pretty sure they'd broken a few rules getting this in. I'm not joking. It. Was. A. Bike. One of those muggle contraptions, like a broom on wheels? Yeah, that thing.

"How the hell did you get this thing in here?" I asked, shocked.

"Room of requirement, bribed Peeves, and a disillusionment spell. Admit it, Padfoot, we're pretty great."

"I concede!" I said, still in shock.

"Well," said James in business mode now, "Reducio!" And my gleaming, jet black bike reduced in size, to about three inches wide and an inch high. "Vee here'll take this back to my place." He offered my owl a treat.

"Wow." I said. "So which one of you knows how to ride it?" I asked, stumping them with my trademark smirk.

"Mine next." Bianca said with a soft smile.

I'd never be able to use it, but what she'd given me had to have been one of the best presents I'd ever received.

It was a notebook about the size of half my palm that flipped itself open magically. It had geometric shapes all stamped across it, shimmering in the light, shimmering different colors. There were vibrant blues and purples, lots of yellows, and one long streak of silver. I understood it for what it was, and I'd never appreciated anything as much as I'd cherished that little book right then.

When I touched the pages of the notebook, they all went blank, except for the first one.

It said, "You can color it all as you want. I just hope I'm one of the colors in your book. B." The words did not fade like other spells, but remained firmly embossed on the paper, softly gleaming in the candle light. I smiled. How very philosophical, kind of sappy actually. This was _me _we were talking about.

"I'd say, all in all, that this has been a very successful beginning to the day." James announced.

"I agree, Prongs. It's a shame the full moon's tomorrow, though. We could've had some fun tonight if I was born a day late." I said, grinning.

** *ducks-to-avoid-projectile* Yeah, I know, I'm really late, but this thing just would not go the way I wanted it to. Then some shit at home…don't want to think about all that. Just, I hope you like it, and reviews make me happy. **

**R. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you, cassibo, desigirl557, starshine44, alltheunicorns. And I'm A Witch Really, too. She happens to be the best reader ever!**

**Now, I'm ba-ack! How've you guys been? This chapter might suck a bit. I don't really know how to do this right, so please forgive me? And thank you so much for every review and every like. I love you all! So very much!**

**Now, playlist: **

**Hungry Like The Wolf – Duran Duran **

**Tame The Beast – Gentlemen Hall**

**Legend Of Wolves – Celtic Version. **

"_He turned towards me, baring sharp, kind-of-human teeth, protruding grotesquely out of a twisted snout like mouth." _

"Let's see how fast we can go on this thing, yeah?" James suggested.

"Prongs, it's full-moon night tonight. We'll be a _little _busy." I sighed. I so badly wanted to ride the shiny bike.

"We could." Remus said, uncharacteristically mischievous. "Dumbledore wants to try out a new potion."

"Wolfsbane?" I asked, interested.

"No, no. Granger's still working on it. Dumbledore's friend, the alchemist, has something he'd like to try. I'll most probably stay normal." He grinned triumphantly.

"That's what Dumbledore called you for? This morning?" Peter checked.

"Yep." Moony was over the moon. _Over the moon. _

"Excellent!" I exclaimed.

"What's excellent?" Bianca slid into place next to me, brushing her lips across mine quickly. James whistled. Lily quickly grabbed his face, though, to kiss him. And about six years worth of tension showed in their embrace. I cleared my throat.

"You were saying, Mr. Potter?" I smirked.

"Oh shut up, Black."

"What's excellent?" Bianca pressed.

"Arithmancy test's canceled. Again." Remus lied smoothly.

"Are you kidding me? Why?" Bianca asked, accepting his version of the truth. And who wouldn't? Remus was as good a liar as any James and myself.

"Schaeffer's gone to Massachusetts. Her sister's having a baby." I informed her.

This much _was _actually true. We did have a miniscule celebration when we heard about the test cancellation, so it wasn't lying so much as hiding the truth.

We spent all of breakfast relishing our free schedules. Professor Flitwick was extremely busy. He'd won some award, and he was preparing for a speech and working on the fine tuning of the charm he'd created. So though he tried very hard to concentrate on teaching, it was fairly easy to distract him. That was double charms down the drain. There was no way McGonagall was going to let us off, but that was made up for by the fact that we had difficult assignments both in Potions and Charms, which meant a lot of time to finish them, but as it was, James and I were almost through in Herbology, and Lily was the only one ahead of us in Potions. Bianca, Remus and Peter weren't far behind us, either, so we'd all spend a lot of time scheming and goofing around. We still had Astronomy, of course, but _that_ was easy enough.

Also, I loved taking pictures on my new muggle camera, and stars were easy enough to capture. Lily and Bianca, being the absolute prissies they were, got very, very excited about some of the nicer pictures; the ones of the forbidden forest, the ones of sunrise. I had been told that these were generic things to take pictures of, and I'd wanted to go with something simple the first few times, but clicking the thing was so addictive. I'd believed Lily when she told me the pictures were good, because she obviously knew more about muggle pictures than all of us.

"Sirius?" Bianca was nuzzled under my chin on the couch. It was the free period before double Charms, and neither of us really had anything to do.

"Sirius?" She said again. There was definitely something off about her tone. It was far too casual.

"Hmm?"

"Last night—" She started.

"Was truly wonderful. You're extremely talented, love." I remarked, smirking.

"Shut up! Nothing happened, I _know _nothing happened." She exclaimed, blushing like a bride.

For a moment, we were both quiet, lost in the memory of a brilliant day.

_We'd had a sudden change of schedule. James had called for a practice immediately after school._

"_Can't you do this on a day that's _not _my birthday, James?" _

"_Uh, oh." He said, mock-worried. "You just first named me. I'm in deep trouble, aren't I?" He laughed, pulling his robes over his head. _

"_Shut the fuck up, Prongs. This isn't funny! Is a little celebration so much to ask for when I become an adult?" _

"_What's the difference, Pads? It isn't like being underage stopped you from doing anything." He grinned. "What's the big difference?"_

"_The difference, you schmuck, is that it's legal now. That's the whole point!" I had to grin. He made a point, but then again, celebrations were a big deal to me. _

"_Did you honestly just use the word, 'schmuck', Padfoot?" He laughed a great, huge, belly laugh. _

"_Well, Prongs, I was going to use a word that was worse, but then I realized that there are ladies present in this room." I said, smirking. _

"_Wait, what? Is Lily here?" He asked, a little flustered. _

"_You retard, I was talking about you." I sniggered, grabbing my broom. _

_As far as practices went, it was perfectly horrible. Nobody paid attention and almost everyone randomly broke into giggles, despite the horrible weather. The rain was beating against us with a vengeance, and I was really worried for my broom. _

"_What is it with you twits?" I roared as I landed. "And you, James, you git! You're the captain that's going to win us the Quidditch cup?" My already bad moon was exacerbated by his nonchalance at the terrible practice. _

"_Oh, shut up, you wanker." He said, pushing me through the doors of the changing room. _What was it _with _him?

_When I got through showering and getting all the mud off my boots and out of my hair _(I wondered how it got there, anyway)_, I stepped out to find an empty room. James was the only one that was waiting. _

_I let out a little grunt of discontentment. I mean, come on! It was my birthday, for Merlin's sake! _

_We both slung our brooms across our shoulders and set off for the common room. What was unusual was the fact that the walk back was quiet. We were generally very, very chatty on the way back. _

"_Titillare Draconem." I told the Fat Lady. _

"_That's right. Happy Birthday, boy. When's the party?" I ignored her and followed James into the common room. _

"_Surprise!" Came a resounding roar from inside the common room. _

_Leaning against a wall, I smirked at the lot of them. I saw every seventh year Gryffindor, maybe half the sixth and seventh year Hufflepuffs, and about half the Ravenclaw seventh year population there. _

"_So what is it?" I asked casually. _

"_What's what, mate?" Remus asked. _

"_The surprise? I know it's not the fact that you threw me a party. I saw this one from about a mile away. Because I am just that great." _

"_Vanity, thy name is Sirius Black. Okay, everyone, since Black here is _so very disappointed _with his birthday bash, I guess you can all go back now." Lily said. _

"_No, no. You can stay." I hurried to correct the situation. I'd hate to miss my own party. "The food and booze are here, and you've all come here, so…stay." _

_I made an utter fool out of myself trying to brush it off. _

_I saw seventeen shots arranged on a small table. "Oh, yes!" _

_I know we had an affinity for shots, but we were who we were: hopeless drunks. Of course, that didn't deter our awesomeness one bit. _

"_You know what to do, mate." Peter patted my back. I brushed him off, stalking towards the table. _

"_Shot, shot, shot, shot." The low murmur had turned into a loud chant. "Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot." _

_I picked up the first glass and sniffed it. It was nothing normal – be it muggle, or magical. _

"_So what's the poison of your choice, Prongs?" I asked, trying to buy time. I wasn't intimidated or anything – I was just trying to prepare myself for the drinks. _

'_Nothing you've heard of, mate. It's Aberforth's special. He just finished aging it last night. And you're the guinea pig." He finished with a smug smile. _

_I gulped. Seventeen shots. Five, I could manage, easy. Ten, with considerable effort, but seventeen? _

_I downed the first one quickly. It tasted wonderful, like nothing I'd had before, but I also instantly recognized it's strength. _

"_Does someone have a lemon quarter?" I asked. _

"_Not a chance, Sirius. Drink up. Be a man!" Bianca nudged. _

_Taking in a huge breath, I downed shot after shot until I reached the eleventh. I'd paused to take another breath. My head was already spinning a bit. _

_I finished the other six quickly, before conjuring myself a lemon. I really needed a clear head. Well, as clear as it could get. _

_Everyone sang happy birthday multiple times, and in multiple keys, I might add. The food was fabulous, of course. The house elves must have really taken out time to make all this, because it wasn't on the menu that day. _

_That reminded me, we were missing dinner. When I asked James about it, he replied nonchalantly. "Let them draw their own conclusions. They're bound to remember the occasion _sometime."

_It was well past midnight when everyone sidled out. There was a huge heap of presents in one corner, a pink bra lay discarder in one corner of the room, and a bottle lay on its side, the only proof of the numerous games we'd played. _

"_James!" Lily sang and threw herself into his arms. Remus and Sierra had already gone up to the dorm. I only hoped they remembered to draw the curtains on the four-poster, and use all the right charms. I'd hate to walk in on something. Peter was nowhere to be seen. _

_The atmosphere was thick with tension. Would she? Wouldn't she? Should I? Shouldn't I? _

_The doubts were cleared, though, for me, when Bianca walked up to me to kiss me soundly. Again, it was no movie kiss. It was filled with something animalistic. It was no girl's fantasy, especially not when the first time I'd kissed her had been equally free of earth-shaking-ness. _

_The force with which she had pushed me had knocked me into a chair that was very close to the food table. A whole array of dark chocolate was within arm's reach for me. Grabbing a piece that was about the size of my little finger, I nudged Bianca into a position that was more comfortable for both of us. She took the chocolate from between my fingers. "You don't know what to do with good chocolate, Sirius." She said, putting it between her teeth. _

_I really didn't need that image in my head. _

_She leaned forward, urging me to open up. I did, quite enjoying how aggressive petite little Bianca could be. I tasted the strong essence of alcohol in both the chocolate and on her tongue. _

_When we'd woken up that morning, Bianca had been in my bed, sans shirt, and I only wore my boxers. Neither of us was entirely sure what had happened. _

"_I'm sure you'd remember it if you'd shagged me, love. I _know_I'm a memorable lay." I'd told Bianca. Actually, I was fairly certain nothing _had _happened, but teasing Bianca about it was so much fun. _

"Nothing happened, Sirius." She told me firmly. She was trying to convince herself. "And I didn't mean last night, last night, anyway. I meant, you know, midnight of your birthday, last night."

"What about it, love?" I asked, snickering in my head still.

"You said something about a full moon. Why? Something about having fun? What did it mean?"

"Nothing of relevance, Bianca. You _know _I say random things sometimes." _Suave, _I thought to myself. She'd really believe that.

She raised her eyebrows in incredulity. "Fine, fine. Don't believe me. It's not my secret to tell, though. So please don't ask." I implored.

"You know it's not fair, Sirius. The puppy eyes just aren't fair." She complained.

"I'd tell you if I could, Branwen. You know I would."

And just like that, the subject was closed. I was really glad of her faith in me sometimes. I wished she didn't though. I wished she'd question me sometimes. Was it really healthy for her to trust me so blindly?

* * *

><p>"So what do we do with this thing?" James asked, staring at a little plastic tube with a needle poking out of it, full of sinister-looking red liquid.<p>

"It's called a syringe, idiot. I know how to use it." Remus said, plucking it out of James' hand. When he plunged it into his own arm, though, we were a little worried. Especially me. I _hated _needles. I didn't know why, but I did. They made me sick.

"Do you feel any different?" James asked him when the tube was empty.

"A little. I feel stronger, I guess, than I usually do on full-moon nights."

"I guess that's good, then." James said, a little trepidation still evident on his face.

"Would Dumbledore ever mean us harm?" Moony asked.

"No, I guess no." We all relaxed a little. I checked my pocket. Shrunken bike? Check. Marauder's Map? Check. Wand? Check. We were all set.

"Get off, you great oaf. I want to ride now." Remus said, nearly pushing me off the bike. He was considerably shorter sitting in the side car. It really was snigger-worthy. The rain went up my nose, causing my nose to block up painfully. This really made my next comment not as cool as it could have been.

"I don't think they let kids ride these things, Moony." I told him.

"Shut up, McCough-A-Lot. And get off before I rip you into chunks with my tamed werewolf genes." He said.

Wormy's rat form sneezed on the handlebars. I recognized it as a laugh. Prongs threw his great antlers back and hacked out a great, stag laugh.

"Fine, traitors. Don't support me. Golden boy here can have my keys." I stopped the bike and exchanged places with Moony quickly. Peter hopped off the handlebars and returned to human state, only to hop onto Prongs' antlers in rat form again.

"Is that the moon?" I looked up at the clouds that had just cleared. I was still a little apprehensive about the whole situation, but that was all quickly brushed under the rug.

"All that'll happen is, apparently, I'll only turn into a kind of wolf – almost like an animagus, Dumbledore says."

"Well, if Dumbledore says it." I shrugged. Moony kicked the bike into gear and tore down the non-path as if he was in a race for his life.

I screamed just a little bit when the bike lurched, bucking both of us almost off the bike.

"What're you playing at, mate?"I choked out. Moony didn't respond. The bike screeched, raging forward only to crash directly into a tree. My face hit the front of the sidecar.

I roared in pain. "I told you, Remus, if you don't know how to ride the goddamn bike, you bloody well should have let me do it!" I felt some blood trickle down my mouth and past my chin. My nose was probably broken.

Remus roared back at me. The sound just wasn't human. I looked up, a little afraid for him now. Was he hurt? What I saw terrified me.

His back was stretching out and the skin was cracking horribly, blood oozing down his back, where a tail had erupted. His face had contorted into something gruesome, not quite human, not quite animal. There was so much blood it looked like Moony'd been impaled on a sword. His groaned, in what could only be pain.

"I'm right here, man. What do you need?" I asked desperately. James appeared in his human form beside me.

"No, no, no! Prongs, turn into a stag again! He might attack!" I exclaimed. "And where the fuck is Peter?" I almost screamed. He could have climbed up onto Lupin and hit this one spot which instantly calmed him down. Where _was _he?

"You change, Sirius!" James said, panic clear in his voice.

"I can't! He's too close. If I change now, it'll be too sudden. I'm really not in a mood to be bitten." I told him. "Look, he's not gone through it completely. He's in pain, but he still seems mostly human. We can talk. Stay. Animal. Just in case."

"Careful, brother." He told me before stepping away to change forms. It was a good thing Remus was baying at the moon at the time. It seemed to be a scream of pain, though.

I tried to climb out of the sidecar when he looked away, but my legs were stuck. I'd have to take some time to extricate them from the side car.

"Moony, my man!" I said cheerfully. "Calm down, mate. It's not so bad." I didn't dare touch him. Somewhere inside me, my survival instinct roared to life.

He turned towards me, baring sharp, kind-of-human teeth, protruding grotesquely out of a twisted snout like mouth. His eyes were bloodshot and wary, and in a lot of pain. His shoulders hunched forward while his hands changed into claws. A halfway conversion. In my head, I'd decided to give Dumbledore a piece of my mind when (if?) I got back.

Moony's eyes rolled up, and he screamed in pain, lashing out against the closest thing available. _Me. _I lunged out of the way of his bloody paws, all the while trying my best to disentangle my legs from the side car. I swore to dismember the damn thing when things were okay.

"Damn it, Peter, where are you?" I gritted my teeth as Remus dragged a set of nails down my right shoulder. _Ouch…that would leave a mark._

"Lupin, calm down. Please!" I exclaimed; I had no idea what else to say to him.

"Oi, Padfoot! Out of the way!" James shouted when the situation was getting dire. His spell was nonverbal and it had an instant effect on Moony. He stopped writhing straight away. Unfortunately, I was fairly certain what spell it was, and I knew the side-effect. Intense heat wave. As soon as I realized what it would do to the sidecar, my fears came true. The front melted all over my legs. I let out an almighty roar, and then everything went black.

**I **_**know **_**that Sirius wasn't on the Quidditch team. It's plot convenience, though. And I also know Sirius is starting to sound like Edward, but I'm not that great a writer – it's recreation. **

**R&R?**

**Love, from,  
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